Mobutu, Sese Seko Kuku Ngbeandu Wa Za Banga

President of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) 1965–97. The harshness of some of his policies and charges of corruption attracted widespread international criticism.

He assumed the presidency in a coup, and created a unitary state under a centralized government. In 1991 opposition leaders forced Mobutu to agree formally to give up some of his powers, but the president continued to oppose constitutional reform initiated by his prime minister, Etienne Tshisekedi. Despite his opposition, a new transitional constitution was adopted in 1994. In October 1996 Zaire and Rwanda were on the brink of war following mass killings of Hutus by Tutsis. Mobutu was criticized by international observers for his absence abroad during the crisis (for cancer treatment in Europe), which was narrowly averted when thousands of Hutus were allowed to return to Zaire. Meanwhile, the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Zaire–Congo (ADFL), led by Laurent Kabila, made significant advances against government forces and threatened Mobutu's regime. In May 1997, with Kabila's rebels poised to take the capital Kinshasa, government officials announced that President Mobutu was giving up his powers. Kabila claimed victory and the presidency, and renamed Zaire the Democratic Republic of Congo – the country's name from 1964 until Mobutu renamed it in 1971.