Zaire
The situation in Zaire (today The Democratic Republic of Congo) under the
reign
of Mobutu Sese Seko is a good illustration of an African tragedy. A
nation so
rich in national resources – having some of the largest diamond
mines in the
world – destined for success and growth, becomes victim to one
of the worst
administrators (if you can even call him that) of the 20th
century and one of
the best “corruption artist” of all time. Corruption
engulfed the young
nation shortly after independence and it hasn’t seen
daylight ever since. In a
time when Asian countries, Central American
countries, and South American
countries are making magnificent headway
towards development, a tyrant thief who
embodies everything evil, sets one of
Africa’s main prospects in reverse. This
was the situation in Zaire that we
shall look at today and examine. We shall
focus on the country of Zaire (1965
– 1997), which was Mobutu’s. Mobutu has
been toppled as of May 16, 1997 and
the country renamed The Democratic republic
of Congo. The Oxford American
Dictionary defines a “State” as, “an
organized community under one
government.” Zaire was anything but organized,
anything but a community, and
had anything but a government. To justify the
claim that Zaire is a good
illustration of a “failed state,” we shall show
several examples that support
this statement. Examples and illustration include
Mobutu’s acceptance of
bribes from foreign governments, misuse of government
budget, embezzlement of
export earnings, diversion of foreign aid and loans, a
failed Treasury, a
failed Central Bank, a highly centralized government, chronic
wide-spread
rent-seeking, a lack of long-term planning, no political development
and
stability, near agricultural failure, nepotism, bad investments, inability
to
repay national debt, human services failure, and overall government
failure.
All of these contributors to this “failed state” are a direct result
of
corruption. “Corruption has detrimental effects on economic development.
It
decreases the efficiency of the civil service and its ability to formulate
and
implement government development policies, and it robs the country of
vast sums
of foreign exchange needed for investment” (George Ayittey 262). In
other
words, corruption puts a “stranglehold on the economic and political
levers of
powers” (Kempe Ronald Hope Sr. 90-91), thus making it virtually
impossible for
a government to operate.