The Congo, which used to be a Belgian colony, is now an African kingdom and is called Zaire. The Congo River is now called the Zaire, as is the local currency, which is almost worthless. The man who has made himself king of this land of the three Zsβ pays, fleuve, monnaie βused to be called Joseph Mobutu.
His father was a cook. But Joseph Mobutu was educated; he was at some time, in the Belgian days, a journalist. In , when the country became independent, Mobutu was thirty, a sergeant in the local Force Publique. Mobutu became the colonel and commander, and through the mutinies, rebellions, and secessions of the years after independence he retained the loyalty of one paratroop brigade.
In , as General Mobutu, he seized power; and as he has imposed order on the army and the country so his style has changed, and become more African. As General Mobutu he used to be photographed in army uniform.
Now, as Mobutu Sese Seko, he wears what he has made, by his example, the Zairois court costume. It is a stylish version of the standard two-piece suit. The jacket has high, wide lapels and is buttoned all the way down; the sleeves can be long or short. A boldly patterned cravat replaces the tie, which has more or less been outlawed; and a breast-pocket handkerchief matches the cravat. On less formal occasionsβwhen he goes among the peopleβMobutu wears flowered shirts.
Always, in public, he wears a leopard-skin cap and carries an elaborately carved stick. Theseβthe cap and the stickβare the emblems of his African chieftaincy. Only the chief can kill the leopard. The stick is carved with symbolic figures: two birds, what looks like a snake, a human figure with a distended belly. No Zairois I met could explain the symbolism. The stick is accepted by Zairois as the stick of the chief.
