After Lumumba -- The Rest of the Story

After the movie "Lumumba" credits are finished. Here's what you should know.

Col. Joseph MOBUTU seized power and declared himself president in a November 1965 coup. He subsequently changed his name - to MOBUTU Sese Seko - as well as that of the country - to Zaire. MOBUTU retained his position for 32 years through several sham elections, as well as through the use of brutal force. Ethnic strife and civil war, touched off by a massive inflow of refugees in 1994 from fighting in Rwanda and Burundi, led in May 1997 to the toppling of the MOBUTU regime by a rebellion backed by Rwanda and Uganda and fronted by Laurent KABILA. He renamed the country the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but in August 1998 his regime was itself challenged by a second insurrection again backed by Rwanda and
Uganda. Troops from Angola, Chad, Namibia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe intervened to support KABILA's regime. A cease-fire was signed in July 1999 by the DRC, Congolese armed rebel groups, Angola, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe but sporadic fighting continued. Laurent KABILA was assassinated in January 2001 and his son, Joseph KABILA, was named head of state. In October 2002, the new president was successful in negotiating the withdrawal of Rwandan forces occupying eastern Congo; two months later, the Pretoria Accord was signed by all remaining warring parties to end the fighting and establish a government of national unity. A transitional government was set up in July 2003. Joseph KABILA as president and four vice presidents represented the former government, former rebel groups, and the political opposition. The transitional government held a successful constitutional referendum in December 2005 and elections for the presidency, National Assembly, and provincial legislatures in 2006. KABILA was inaugurated president in December 2006. (source: CIA Factbook)

Today, the Congo is the site of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. Since 1998, 5.4 million people have died unnecessarily. Most of the deaths were women and children five years old or younger. These deaths were from preventable and treatable diseases such as malaria, malnutrition, and childhood complications. (source: IRC Mortality Study)

If you have comments or questions, please contact me (Woody Collins, President, Congo Helping Hands), email wmcollins@congohelpinghands.org, or phone (317) 698-7643. Visit http://www.EndingExtremePoverty.org, or text ‘CONGO’ to (317) 627-9639 for information, news and updates.