Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga, commonly known as Mobutu Sese Seko or simply just Mobutu and also by his initials MSS, was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the 1st and only President of Zaire from 1971 to 1997. Previously, Mobutu served as the 2nd President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1971. He also served as the 5th Chairman of the Organisation of African Unity from 1967 to 1968. During the Congo Crisis, Mobutu, serving as Chief of Staff of the Army and supported by Belgium and the United States, deposed the democratically elected government of left-wing nationalist Patrice Lumumba in 1960. Mobutu installed a government that arranged for Lumumba's execution in 1961, and continued to lead the country's armed forces until he took power directly in a second coup in 1965.
Mobutu in 1983, wearing his emblematic leopard-skin toque
Colonel Mobutu in 1960
Mobutu in a 1963 visit to Israel, where he participated in a shortened IDF paratrooper course
Colonel Joseph-Desiré Mobutu (left) with President Joseph Kasa-Vubu, 1961
Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity
The Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity served as the head of the Organisation of African Unity, a rotating position.
Image: Haile Selassie in full dress (cropped)
Image: Nasser portrait 2
Image: The National Archives UK CO 1069 50 1
Image: Haile Selassie in full dress (cropped)
