François-Joseph Mobutu Nzanga Ngbangawe (born 24 March 1970 in Kinshasa) is a Congolese politician. A son of the long-time President Mobutu Sese Seko, he served in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

under President

Joseph Kabila Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician who served as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between January 2001 and January 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, Pres ...

from 2007 to 2011, initially as Minister of State for Agriculture and subsequently as Deputy Prime Minister for Basic Social Needs. He was dismissed from the government in March 2011. In 2008, he founded the Union of Mobutist Democrats as the successor to his father's

Popular Movement of the Revolution The Popular Movement of the Revolution (french: Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution, abbr. MPR) was the ruling political party in Zaire (known for part of its existence as the Democratic Republic of the Congo). For most of its existence, it wa ...

and has led the party since.

Background

Nzanga Mobutu is the eldest son of Mobutu Sese Seko by his second wife, Bobi Ladawa. Nzanga studied in Belgium, France and Canada before returning to Congo in the mid-1990s. He then worked as a communications adviser to his father but fled into exile in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

along with his father when rebel leader

Laurent-Désiré Kabila Laurent-Désiré Kabila () (27 November 1939 – 18 January 2001) or simply Laurent Kabila ( US: ), was a Congolese revolutionary and politician who was the third President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1997 until his assassinatio ...

captured Kinshasa in May 1997.Tshitenge Lubabu
"RDC : Nzanga Mobutu, l'héritier inconstant"
''Jeune Afrique'', 19 September 2012 .

2006 election

He launched a political career as leader of the Union of Mobutist Democrats (UDEMO), a party advocating the restoration of

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

national unity Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

and

territorial integrity Territorial integrity is the principle under international law that gives the right to sovereign states to defend their borders and all territory in them of another state. It is enshrined in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and has been recognized ...

. He is most popular in the northwestern

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Équateur, whence his father hailed. In the 2006 presidential election, he ran as a candidate and placed fourth, with about 4.8% of the vote. Following the first round of voting, Mobutu entered into a platform political coalition with the incumbent president

to try to rally votes from the Equateur region where

Jean-Pierre Bemba Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo (born 4 November 1962) is a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was one of four vice-presidents in the transitional government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 17 July 2003 to December 2 ...

was favored to win. The coalition also involved the political party

PALU Palu, which is officially known as the City of Palu ( Indonesian: ''Kota Palu''), is the capital and largest city of Central Sulawesi. Palu is located on the northwestern coast of Sulawesi and borders Donggala Regency to the north and west, Par ...

Antoine Gizenga Antoine Gizenga (5 October 1925 – 24 February 2019) was a Congolese (DRC) politician who was the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 30 December 2006 to 10 October 2008. He was the Secretary-General of the Unified Lumum ...

. His younger brother, Giala Mobutu, and eight other UDEMO candidates were elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

in the 2006 election.

Government minister

Gizenga became Prime Minister in December 2006, and Mobutu was named Minister of State for Agriculture when Gizenga's government was announced on February 5, 2007, ranking second in the government after Gizenga. When Gizenga was succeeded by Adolphe Muzito, Mobutu was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister for Basic Social Needs in Muzito's government, which was named on October 26, 2008. In March 2011 President Kabila dismissed Mobutu from the government for inactivity.Pierre Boisselet
"RDC : Kabila révoque Nzanga Mobutu de son poste de vice-Premier ministre"
''Jeune Afrique'', 11 March 2011 . Explaining the move, government spokesman

Lambert Mende Lambert Mende Omalanga (born 11 february 1953) is the former minister of communications of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is best known for saying that an overturned fuel truck that exploded and killed 230 people was trying to overtake a ...

accused Mobutu of "abandonment of service" for staying in Europe since November 2010 "without any explanation". Mende stressed that the move was directed only against Mobutu and not his party. Reportedly Kabila had tried to cultivate a good relationship with Mobutu, but the latter allegedly neglected his work and seemed uninterested in it. Following his dismissal, he again ran for office in the 2011 presidential elections against the incumbent president. In subsequent years he lived in the United States, with his brother Giala leading UDEMO.Trésor Kibangula
"RDC : qu’est-devenue la famille de Mobutu ?"
''Jeune Afrique'', 29 May 2017 . He is married to Catherine Bemba, a daughter of businessman Bemba Saolona and sister of

, with whom he has three children: Nyiwa, Bobi, and Sese.

Election results

References

External links

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mobutu, Nzanga Living people 1970 births Ngbandi people Union of Mobutuist Democrats politicians Candidates for President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Deputy Prime Ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Children of national leaders Mobutu Sese Seko