The son of late Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) dictator Mobutu Sese Seko has returned from six years in exile — with an eye toward possibly succeeding his father, but through elections, aides said on Monday.
Manda Mobutu (43) arrived in DRC’s capital, Kinshasa, late on Sunday, ending an exile spent largely in France.
He landed to a greeting by family followers wearing T-shirts and print-cloth bearing his father’s likeness, as well as knock-offs of his father’s trademark leopardskin cap.
Mobutu’s father ruled the sprawling Central African nation for 32 years, until, aged and ailing, he was driven out in 1997 by then-rebel Laurent Kabila. The elder Mobutu died in exile in Morocco that same year.
Laurent Kabila’s son, Joseph Kabila, now leads DRC at the head of a power-sharing government, after his own father’s assassination in 2001.
DRC today is emerging from a five-year war that killed more than three-million people, by aid groups’ estimate.
The power-sharing government, made up of Kabila and four vice-presidents from rival rebel groups and from civil society, is supposed to lead the resource-rich former Belgian colony to its first-ever national democratic elections, within three years.
Manda Mobutu came back in part to prepare for the vote, spokesprson Francois Nzikuye said.
”It’s possible that he will look to a mandate even as head of the country, nothing is excluded, but first it’s a good idea for him to make alliances and get to know the ground,” Nzikuye said.
Family members must work out with DRC authorities disputes over the late Mobutu’s fortune, and over return of his body to DRC for reburial, aides said.
Other members of the late Mobutu’s camp have started trickling back to DRC, including former prime minister Kengo Wa Dondo.
Supported by the West throughout the Cold War, the late Mobutu is accused of pilfering millions of dollars in the country’s resources and foreign aid.
Rwanda and other countries backed the late Kabila in the drive to oust Mobutu, then sought to overthrow Kabila himself when he persisted in harbouring cross-border militias that threatened their own security.
The power-sharing deal has ended most fighting in the six-nation war that followed. – Sapa-AP