This newly restored landmark of documentary film presents a largely observational…
Mobutu, King of Zaire - Part 1
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- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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This is the definitive visual record of the rise and fall of Joseph Désiré Mobutu, ruler of Zaire (the Congo) for over 30 years. Drawing upon 140 hours of rare archival material found in Kinshasa, and 50 hours of interviews with those once close to him, MOBUTU, KING OF ZAIRE tells the story of the man at the heart of Central Africa's post-colonial history.
This is part one of three parts:
Part One - QUEST FOR POWER
Covering the years from Mobutu's birth until 1969, Part One documents his journey from cook's son, to military journalist, to Secretary of State, and then President. The film shows Mobutu as a young journalist at the World's Fair in Brussels in 1958, and meeting Patrice Lumumba during negotiations for the Congo's independence in 1960.
In an interview, Larry Devlin, the CIA Station Chief at the time, tells how even in the early stages of independence, Mobutu was seen as a possible replacement for his sponsor Patrice Lumumba. Devlin describes receiving the order to eliminate Lumumba, and the film includes footage of Mobutu's coup in 1965, of Lumumba in captivity with Mobutu looking on, and of the ensuing four-year civil war.
Thierry Michel, whose two previous films on the Congo, THE LAST COLONIALS and ZAIRE, CYCLE OF THE SERPENT, are also distributed by Icarus Films, has crafted an essential history and documentary resource
'A stunning documentary of the life of Mobuto... one of Africa's most notorious postcolonial despots.'-American Historical Review
'Rejects shrill indictment in favor of the cumulative revelation of its subject through film and the testimony of knowledgeable Mobutu aides and other qualified individuals. [This film] is the devastating witness that lays bare the homicidal, corrupt, vainglorious tyranny of Mobutu Sese Seko.'-The New York Times
'Remarkable! A film of almost literally fantastic footage and revealing interviews. Students should see it... Excellent!'-David Moore, University of Natal, Durban, for H-SAfrica
'Previously unseen archive footage interspersed with interviews with survivors of Mobutu's inner circle makes for great cinematic drama. A rarity.'-Mail and Guardian
'A tremendous documentary on the folly of power.'-Le Monde
Citation
Main credits
Michel, Thierry (creator)
Michel, Thierry (film director)
Michel, Thierry (screenwriter)
Michel, Thierry (narrator)
Pireaux, Christine (film producer)
Barbé, Martine (film producer)
Lalou, Serge (film producer)
Yoka Lye Mudaba (narrator)
Other credits
Music, Marc Herouet.
Distributor subjects
Africa; African Studies; Biographies; Comparative Government; Congo; History (World); PoliticsKeywords
WEBVTT
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[music]
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[music]
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With colonization well underway, Mobutu is
born in the Belgian Congo in the heart of the
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luxuriant equatorial forest.
It is a country of excesses
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with fabulous riches both
above and below ground.
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Mobutu grows up in a country
of legends, that of the
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Belgian King, Leopold II, the
conquering king, the colonizing king,
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who half a century earlier
had appropriated a territory
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80 times larger than his own
kingdom all for himself.
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[sil.]
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[music]
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Forcefully inducted into the
colonial army but (inaudible)
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undisciplined(ph) behavior
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studying under the missionaries, for
seven years, Mobutu learns submission
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and experiences humiliation.
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[music]
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Leaving the army I believe
after seven years in service,
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he became a journalist in a
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normal public newspaper if you
will, but he also worked nights
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writing articles for an
underground newspaper which was…
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favored independence.
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At 28, Mobutu has the
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rare privilege of being able to take a course as
journalist during the World Exhibition at Brussels.
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Back in the Congo, Mobutu is
one of the few journalist
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to witness the anti-colonial writing
and demonstrations by the Congolese.
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Not long after these events, Patrice
Lumumba, the Nationalist leader
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who\'s disciples already include Mobutu
is arrested by the colonel authorities.
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[sil.]
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A year later, released from prison, Patrice
Lumumba -the hero of the Congolese people
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arrives in Brussels to negotiate
the independence of his country.
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Mobutu is at the forefront
of those who welcome him.
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[sil.]
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Behind the scenes in the royal palace at the
time of the negotiations for independence,
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Mobutu finally discovers this young
Belgian monarch, King Baudouin
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who is the same age as him, but whose
destiny is already written in history.
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[sil.]
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But in the shadow of Patrice Lumumba,
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Mobutu says little and listens a lot.
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Well, I was at… stationed at the American Embassy in
Brussels at the time of the Round Table Conference.
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We were anxious. We as
government were anxious to
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gain some impression of these
future leaders. We really knew
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little or nothing about
them, afterwards that we…
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met the next day to discuss the various
people that we had met into a put…
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have it put on paper if you will,
to record our… our information.
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And the one name that
kept coming up was this
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young man by the name of Mobutu. Was amazing
now as I look back how money people
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spotted him as a potential leader.
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[sil.]
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The first republic of the independent Congo
is led by President Joseph Kasa-Vubu
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and Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba
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who when he forms his first government, names
Joseph Desiré Mobutu as secretary of State.
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[sil.]
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[music]
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He had to make all decisions.
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And I think, he was… it was
just too much for him.
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He… He was under constant pressure. He got
in the habit of keeping a bottle of whisky
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on his desk and he would take a shot, just
pick up the bottle and drink from it.
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And it was clear to me that he
was losing his mind that if
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he failed at this time, the Congo
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would fall into the hands of the Soviets and I
did not… certainly my country didn\'t want it,
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I didn\'t want it. It was the height
of the Cold War. And he kept ignoring
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this recommendation. And he… so I talk with
him, he pick up his bottle and drink from it.
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And I finally just snatched it away
and smashed it across his desk.
00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:40.000
In rather strong term said you either
stop drinking or… or you will fail.
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Only a few days after independence,
Mobutu has to face a mutiny
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from within the army. Born into disorder,
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confusion, and hate, the young Congolese
state sinks into bloody anarchy.
00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.999
Soon those regions richest in minerals,
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amongst them the province of
Katanga proclaims accession.
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This is fermented by the powerful
Union Minière which is mining copper,
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cobalt, and uranium. It\'s backed by
Belgium and by the white colonists.
00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.999
[music]
00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:09.999
In these times of Cold
War, the country explodes
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and sinks into violence, necessitating
the intervention of the United Nations.
00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:19.999
At first, Prime Minister Lumumba and
Colonel Mobutu try to bring about calm and
00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.999
so preserve the unity of the country.
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Very quickly
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Lumumba demonstrates to the world his spirit of
independence. He accuses the old colonial powers
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of being behind the unrest. Mobutu,
however, reveals to the world
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his allegiance to the Western powers. He accuses
Lumumba of being a communist sympathizer.
00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.999
It must have been about, somewhere about
between the 12th and the 15th of August
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that the United States adopted a position
00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.999
that it would be preferable
for a new government
00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.999
to come to power, i.e. that
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Lumumba should go. Decision was
made at a very high level.
00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.999
I was told at the time it came from the President
of the United States, but I have no way of proving,
00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.999
knowing or proving or
disproving that statement,
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.999
that Lumumba should be physically removed.
This was never sent to me
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on paper. I received an
instruction that I am
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certain that a Joe… person who
would identify himself as Joe
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from Paris would arrive. I would
recognize him that he was a
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CIA officer that I would
recognize a senior CIA officer.
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.999
And when I met him, I was to
take my instructions from him.
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And one day, I went out of
the embassy going somewhere
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and standing across the street was a
man that I recognized. And he told me
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that it had been decided that
I… that Lumumba had to go.
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:10.000
And if he could not go politically, that
he… he had to be physically removed.
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Colonel Mobutu shows his hands in public.
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
His soldiers surround the Prime Minister\'s
residence. Patrice Lumumba is now
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under house arrest.
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[music]
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Arrested by Mobutu after a failed escape attempt,
Lumumba is jailed with the blessing of the
00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
Belgian and American ambassadors.
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:53.000
[music]
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On the 17th of January 1961,
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
\"the parcel,\" the code name given to the
prisoner, is sent to the province of Katanga.
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
During this fateful journey
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:20.000
Lumumba and his companions
will be cruelly mistreated.
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
[music]
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
The official version of Lumumba\'s death at
the hands of villagers hides a much more
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sinister reality. Savagely
murdered by the local authorities
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
as soon as he arrives in
Katanga, his body disappears,
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
undoubtedly buried somewhere in the bush.
00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
[music]
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
With the Prime Minister
assassinated, chief of staff Mobutu
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:10.000
forces the President of the Republic,
Joseph Kasa-Vubu to share the leadership.
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
As commander in chief, Mobutu has to face a fresh
rebellion. In the central and eastern provinces
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
partisans of Patrice Lumumba and
then particular Pierre Mulele,
00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
his faithful companion, launch a military
offensive against the central power and seize
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
two-thirds of the country. They\'re
backed by China and the Soviet Union.
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
[music]
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:15.000
Mabutu tries to organize
a counter-offensive.
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:38.000
[sil.]
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
[sil.]
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
During this civil war, Mobutu
receives military and logistical aide
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:10.000
from the west, principally from
Belgium and the United States.
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:33.000
[sil.]
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
Mobutu notches up a fresh victory
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
in his glorious record as military commander,
subtly he builds himself a reputation
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:18.000
as the peacemaker.
00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:58.000
[music]
00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
Promoted to the highest functions
of military hierarchy,
00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
Mobutu now dreams of absolute
power, power which however
00:26:55.000 --> 00:27:00.000
he\'ll have to share with the Prime Minister
and the President of the Republic.
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
[music]
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
But no one can imagine at the
time of this military pomp
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
that Mobutu will grant himself
absolute power just six days later.
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
He dismisses both Prime Minister Evariste Kimba and
the President of the Republic Joseph Kasa-Vubu
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
who\'s forced into retirement
in his native village
00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:45.000
where he dies a few years later.
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:45.000
[sil.]
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
[sil.]
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
The final irony,
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
five years after Lumumba\'s assassination
and six months after the coup,
00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
Mobutu clears the name of his victim.
Why did Mobutu do?
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
Why did he make a national hero of Lumumba?
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
Pure… Purely cold politics.
Times had changed,
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
he wished to show that he
allied himself with the
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
real liberators of the
Congo, the men who had
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
brought about independence.
At the end of 1966,
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
most of the rebel leaders have abandoned all
resistance. The most radical among them,
00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
Pierre Mulele finds shelter in Brazzaville,
capital of the neighboring country.
00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
This ex-Minister of Education
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
of Lumumba\'s government accepts the offer of
amnesty from his old enemy General Mobutu.
00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
[sil.]
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:15.000
Justin Bomboko, Minister of Foreign Affairs
is charged with bringing him back to Congo.
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
Convinced that Mobutu would never go back on his
word, Pierre Mulele agrees to return, having no idea
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
of the treachery awaiting him. He is tortured,
and then murdered by Mobutu\' henchmen.
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:15.000
And so, one of the last Lumumbas leaves the
stage, one of the last rebels of the 60s.
00:34:55.000 --> 00:35:03.000
[music]
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:20.000
[music]
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:33.000
[music]
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:53.000
[music]
00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:10.000
[music]
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:30.000
[music]
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:48.000
[music]
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
Standing at the top of the
Empire State Building,
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
Mobutu\'s dream comes true at last, to be
a great man among the worlds\' leaders.
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:28.000
[music]
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
On the 10th anniversary of
the country\'s independence,
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
President Mobutu invites the King of
Belgium, King Baudouin I, symbol of the
00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
former colonial power for a state visit.
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
[music]
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
Mobutu is all smiles,
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
smooth, fresh, and flashing. You
could say that in all aspects
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
he does his utmost to imitate
the Belgian monarch.
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:58.000
[music]
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
[music]
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
To consolidate his power, President Mobutu founds
the MPR, the Popular Movement of the Revolution,
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
one party, totally devoted to him.
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:55.000
He proclaims himself the Founding Father.
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
Membership of the party is
obligatory for everyone
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:50.000
including according to official slogans, one\'s
ancestors and even the unborn in their mother\'s wombs.
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
[non-English narration]
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
Wishing to speed up and
overtake history itself,
00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
Mobutu radicalizes his revolution.
To fire the imagination
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
of the Congolese population, he re-baptizes
the country, the currency and the river.
00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
Congo becomes Zaire. The
currency becomes Zaire.
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
The river becomes Zaire. It
is the era of the three Zs.
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
Christian names are henceforth prohibited.
The President of the Republic himself
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
sets the example, Joseph
Désiré Mobutu is no more.
00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
Instead in his place, Mobutu Sese
Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga.
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
In other words, the all powerful warrior
who fires up all on his way and from
00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:20.000
conquest to conquest remains invincible.
00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
[sil.]
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
The revolution knows no respite. With the colonial
statues demolished and thrown into history\'s backyard,
00:43:55.000 --> 00:44:00.000
Mobutu establishes Mobutism with the
ideology of a one-party system.
00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:13.000
[music]
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:28.000
[music]
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 51 minutes
Date: 2000
Genre: Expository
Language: French; English / English subtitles
Grade: 10-12, College, Adult
Closed Captioning: Available
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