The Congo from Leopold to Kabila

The people of the Congo have suffered a particularly brutal experience of colonial rule; and, following independence in 1960, external interference by the United States, the rapaclous and dictatorial regime of Mobutu, and periodic warfare which even now continues fitfully in the East of the country. But the Congolese people have not taken these multiple oppressions lying down. They have struggled to improve their living conditions by trying both to establish democratic institutions at home and to free themselves from exploitation from abroad. Professor Nzongola-Ntalaja’s deep knowledge of personalities and events, and his understanding of the underlying class, ethnic and other factors at work, make this a compelling, lucid, radical and utterly unromanticized account.

Author Biography

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja is a renowned scholar of African politics and an international consultant specializing in public policy, governance and conflict-related issues. Despite being forced into exile, he has played a role in his own country’s difficult transition from the Mobutu dictatorship, most recently as chief representative of the democratic opposition on the National Electoral Commission of the DRC.