JOSEPH KASAVUBU.
The military deposed his shaky regime
In the early years of its independence a number of factors went towards
making the Congo an embodiment of an African tragedy. But few of those
were perhaps more poignant than the fact that one of the ablest of all
Congolese politicians was also among the least patriotic in the terms
understood by contemporary Africa.
There was little doubt that Tshombe
was, in political adroitness and intellectual calculation, a bigger man
than ever Lumumba was. In nationalistic terms, Lumumba had the right
political convictions but he had the wrong qualities for leadership. He
seemed confused in tactical judgement and unpredictable in his
political moods. Tshombe on the other hand, demonstrated a polished
Style of political manoeuvre and an air of sophisticated calculation.
What was wrong with Tshombe was his political ethics. Conor Cruise
O'Brien, who as a United Nations officer conducted negotiations with
Tshombe, described him in a lecture given at Makerere University
College in 1964 as 'the best politician that money can buy'. If Lumumba
lacked confidence but possessed a nationalistic and pan-African
conscience, Tshombe had the competence but entirely lacked the
conscience. Tshombe had the political skills but the wrong views,
Lumumba the right views but the wrong skills. The ultimate pathos of
the history of the Congo in its first years was that it did not produce
a leader who could combine the best of Tshombe with the best of Lumumba
- the adroitness of Tshombe with the vision of Lumumba. In short the
tragedy of the Congo was that the Lumumbaist ethos did not find a
Tshombe to bring it to fruition and fulfilment.
When Lumumba was murdered, the Congo was more divided politically than
when the UN intervened five months earlier. The confusion enabled
Katanga to strengthen, and south Kasai to re-establish, its secession.
Social chaos and economic dislocation caused the advocates of
centralized authority and political unity to hold a meeting of the
parliament in Leopoldville in July 1961. All groups except Tshombe's in
Katanga were represented- A new government was formed under Cyrille
Adoula as Prime Minister with Gizenga as Deputy Premier.
Kasavubu
remained President. Adoula was a trade unionist and a socialist but
non-Marxist and strongly anti-communist. and in favour of a federation
rather than a strong central government. The new government's
pro-Western policies drove Gizenga to return to Stanleyville in August
and attempt to reform a Lumumbaist administration there.
Adoula's government took a positive stand on ending secession. In the
aftermath of Lumumba's death the UN gained a fresh mandate from the
Security Council to invade Katanga and suppress secession and expel
foreign mercenaries and political agents. Tshombe adroitly gave way and
accepted Adoula's terms for the reincorporation of Katanga into the
Congo, including a proposed federal constitution, thereby making it
unnecessary for the UN to complete the occupation of Katanga. Tshombe
used the next year and a half to delay implementation of his agreement
with Adoula. A renewed UN offensive in December 1962 in January 1963
ended Katanga's secession on the ground as well as on paper.
Tshombe
left the Congo in 1965, but he soon turned his misfortune to advantage,
returning in July 1964 to become Prime Minister of a government of
national unity, having convinced Kasavubu in secret negotiations of his
willingness to play a leading role in national reconciliation- In April
1964 a new constitution had been drawn up, providing for a federation
with 21 provinces - an attempt to defuse ethnic sub- nationalisms of
larger ethnic communities by playing them off against regional minority
groups. Secessionism was defeated in the Congo but at the price of a
weak central 'government. Moreover, a form of political unity had been
established, but four years of confusion and chaos had meant social
reforms had been totally neglected. In the next chapter we shall see
how the demand for social justice led to popular uprisings in the Congo.
National Movements and New States in Africa