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DRCONGO-POLITICS-HISTORY,CHRONO
DR Congo: key dates since independence
KINSHASA, Jan 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Here are key dates in the post-
independence history of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
– Independence, chaos –
On June 30, 1960 the Congo becomes independent from Belgium.
Power is shared between president Joseph Kasa-Vubu and his prime minister,
independence hero Patrice Lumumba. Their rivalry plunges the country into
chaos.
In July 1960 there is a mutiny in the army; the mineral-rich Katanga
province, in the southeast, secedes with Belgian backing.
In September Lumumba is removed as prime minister after a coup by army
colonel Joseph-Desire Mobutu. In January 1961 he is assassinated.
Mobutu returns power to Kasa-Vubu in February 1961. Katanga reverts to
central government authority in 1963.
A communist-inspired rebellion between 1964 and 1965 leaves thousands dead.
– Mobutu seizes power –
On November 24, 1965 Mobutu stages a second coup and imposes dictatorial
rule. In 1971 he renames the country the Republic of Zaire and himself Mobutu
Sese Seko.
Two years later he establishes a “Zairianisation” policy that involves
pushing out foreign economic interests.
In 1976 the first known outbreak of Ebola virus is identified in DR Congo.
It has since been hit by 10 Ebola epidemics.
In 1977-1978 Mobutu manages, with international help, to contain new
secession attempts by Katanga province, renaming it Shaba.
Mobutu’s dictatorship, which lasts more than three decades, keeps the
country together but smothers all opposition and wrecks the economy.
– Mobutu flees –
On May 16, 1997 Mobutu goes exile after receiving an ultimatum to step down
from rebel leader Laurent Kabila, whose forces are advancing on the capital.
Backed notably by Rwanda, the rebels had launched their offensive in the
east around eight months earlier.
Kabila proclaims himself president on May 17 and renames the country
Democratic Republic of Congo.
In August 1998 a new rebellion in the east descends into a major regional
conflict: Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe back government forces; Rwanda and
Uganda back the rebels.
The fighting lasts until 2003, with millions estimated to have been
killed.
– Kabila father to son –
On January 16, 2001 Kabila is murdered by a bodyguard. His 29-year-old
son Joseph takes over 10 days later, elected president in 2006 in the
country’s first free elections since independence.
In 2011 Kabila is re-elected in a vote marred by violence and fraud.
In May 2012 the M23 movement, a mainly ethnic Tutsi rebel group, begins an
uprising in the eastern Kivu region that is eventually defeated at the end of
2013.
In 2015 demonstrations break out in Kinshasa over a bill that would delay
the 2016 elections and enable Kabila to remain in office beyond his two-term
limit.
In September 2016 the central Kasai region descends into violence after
security forces kill a powerful local chieftain.
– First peaceful transition –
In December 2016 a political agreement allows Kabila to remain in power
until elections within a year.
But there are new delays — and opposition protests that are severely
repressed — and the election is eventually set for December 2018.
Kabila ends speculation about his intentions by choosing former interior
minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary to run as his successor.
Results of the December 30, 2018 election give opposition candidate Felix
Tshisekedi victory with just over 38 percent of votes.
Pre-poll favourite Martin Fayulu rejects the surprise result as “an
electoral coup” and the international community raises doubts.
On January 20 the Constitutional Court rejects Fayulu’s appeal against the
result and confirms Tshisekedi as the next president.
His inauguration due on January 24 will mark the first peaceful transition
of power in the history of the country.
BSS/AFP/RY/09:52 hrs