NATIONAL MOVEMENTS AND THE NEW STATES IN AFRICA
Preface
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN NATIONALISM
CHAPTER 2: THE ITALO-ETHIOPIAN WAR
CHAPTER 3: THE IMPACT OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR ON AFRICA
CHAPTER FOUR:THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION
CHAPTER FIVE:THE GHANAIAN REVOLUTION
CHAPTER SIX:THE DECOLONIZATION OF AFRICA: UNITY OR BALKANIZATION
CHAPTER SEVEN:PAN AFRICANISM
CHAPTER NINE:NEO-COLONIALISM
CHAPTER TEN:AFRICAN POLITICAL PARTIES: THEIR ROLE IN THE REGAINING OF INDEPENDENCE
CHAPTER ELEVEN:NATIONALISM IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER TWELVE: NATIONALISM IN CONGO
CHAPTER THIRTEEN:NATIONALISM IN TANGANYIKA
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:NATIONALISM IN KENYA: THE DEFEAT OF REGIONALISM
CHAPTER FIFTEEN:MAU- MAU IN KENYA (1952-1956)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN:THE ALGERIAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:THE ARMED STRUGGLE: THE 1960S AND 1970S
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE IN MOZAMBIQUE
CHAPTER NINETEEN:THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE IN ZIMBABWE
CHAPTER TWENTY:THE POLISARIO WAR IN WESTERN SAHARA
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE:THE LIBERATION WAR IN NAMIBIA
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO:AFRIKANER AND AFRICAN NATIONALISM IN SOUTH AFRICA
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE:NATIONALISM IN UGANDA
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR:UGANDA NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT (UNLF) (1979-1980)
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE:PROBLEMS OF DISUNITY: CIVIL WAR IN SUDAN
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX:THE ERITREAN SECESSION WAR FROM 1961-1993
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX:POLITICAL INSTABILITIES IN THE HORN OF AFRICA.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN:SECESSIONISM IN ZAIRE, 1960-
Introduction
Reasons for the attempted secession of Katanga
JOSEPH KASAVUBU.
The Zaire rebellion of 1964-7
Reasons Why Katanga Secession Failed.
Effects of the Katanga secession.
Causes Of The Congo Political Crisis After Independence.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT:THE NIGERIAN CIVIL/ SECESSION WAR, 1967-70
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE:THE CIVIL WAR IN CHAD FROM 1965-1982
CHAPTER THIRTY:THE ANGOLAN CIVIL WAR, 1975-6
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE:MOZAMBICAN CIVIL WAR 1977-1994
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO:THE RWANDA REVOLUTION- 1959-1994
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE:THE ZANZIBAR REVOLUTION OF 1964
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR:MILITARY COUP D'ETATS
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE:THE LIBYAN REVOLUTION- 1969
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX:THE ONE-PARTY SYSTEM
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN:MULTIPARTY SYSTEM
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT:NATIONAL UNITY AND SOCIALISM
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE:AFRICAN CULTURE
CHAPTER FOURTY:REGIONAL AFRICAN ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS
CHAPTER FOURTY ONE:POPULATION EXPLOSION IN AFRICA
CHAPTER FOURTY TWO:WARS BETWEEN INDEPENDENT AFRICAN STATES
CHAPTER FOURTY THREE:NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT (NAM)
CHAPTER FOURTY FOUR:MAJOR PROBLEMS OF AFRICA
CHAPTER FOURTY FIVE:THE BEST TECHNIQUES TO PASSING A' LEVEL HISTORY PAPER 1
REFERENCES

Congo's abrupt transition to independence led to the attempted breakaway of Katanga. In 1956, Professor van Bilsen recommended the involvement of Congolese in colonial administration in order to prepare them for independence in 30 years' time. But following violent riots in 1959, Belgium abruptly granted Congo independence in 1960. The independence of Congo was in the hands of inexperienced politicians, tribally based political parties and power hungry leaders. The Belgians never developed national institutions, which could hold the country together. This encouraged Katanga to declare her independence in 1960.

 

The independence constitution was partly responsible for the Katanga crisis. The constitution allowed the creation of strong provinces governed by governors who had a lot of power and authority. Regional political parties had a lot of power in provincial assemblies. Moise Tshombe's CONAKAT party had control of Katanga provincial assembly. Such power and authority encouraged Katanga to attempt to break away.

 

The colonial legacy too, was responsible for the break away of Katanga. The Belgians made no effort to unite the vast African state of Congo. They instead used the policy of divide and rule to prolong their stay in Congo and based their administration on provinces curved out on ethnic boundaries. The Congolese were taught to pay allegiance to their tribes rather than their nation. Natives viewed themselves as Kongo, Luba, Lunda, Mongo, Zande, among others, rather than Congolese. This promoted regionalism, tribalism and desire by some tribes or their leaders to become independent from the rest of Congo. This encouraged Tshombe to try and curve out a state in Katanga.

 

The secret and unofficial Belgian support to Katanga encouraged the attempted secession. Driven by the ego to maintain control of the great mineral wealth, the Belgians gave financial and military support to the secessionist forces. Belgian administrators on the ground supplied arms and ammunitions to Tshombe's CONAKAT. Additionally, Belgian military and paramilitary forces were recruited at home in Brussels and secretly flown into Katanga to fight for independence. With such massive external support, Moise Tshombe went ahead to declare the independence of Katanga.

 

The Belgians had historic ties and supported CONAKAT, the party that declared the break away of Katanga, CONAKAT was founded with the strong involvement of Belgians. CONAKAT was supported by Belgians and Union Miniere, one of the mining companies. The Europeans influenced CONAKAT do declare the independence of the mineral rich Katanga. The Belgians hoped to dip their hands into the mineral wealth of Katanga. ''

 

The vicious rumour that Kasai, Kivu and Baluba provinces had broken away. The Belgians orchestrated a false rumour in Katanga and across Congo that Kasai, Kivu and Baluba provinces were planning to break away and each would become an independent state. This encouraged Tshombe to also declare his secession bid for Katanga. Though the rumour was found to be false, it had already influenced Tshombe to declare the independence of Katanga.

 

The power ambition of Tshombe contributed to the attempted break away of Katanga. Tshombe founded CONAKAT in 1959 as a vehicle to deliver him to the presidency of Congo. In the pre-independence elections of 1959, CONAKAT lost to the MNC and ABAKO parties. Tshombe tried unsuccessfully to convince Lumumba to form an MNC - CONAKAT government. When he failed, to achieve his ambition of leading Congo, Tshombe resorted to the creation of his own state in Katanga.

 

The disproportionate representation of Katanga in the National Assembly contributed to the attempted breakaway of Katanga. Mineral rich Katanga, and with the highest number of elites, had only 4 representatives in the Congolese National Assembly. Peaceful attempts by the people of Katanga to increase the number of members of Parliament, met the deaf ears of government. Additionally, Katanga's demand for the position of Minister of Defence and Internal Affairs was futile. The people of Katanga felt insufficiently represented in the Central government. This compelled them to declare their province of Katanga independent.

 

The economic strength and blessings of Katanga influenced her to attempt to break away. Katanga was the richest province in Congo with good soils, a hardworking population, a sizeable number of elites and minerals such as gold, uranium, copper, coal, zinc, cobalt, silver, lead, manganese, etc. The province was the leading agricultural producer with crops such as cotton and tobacco. Katanga contributed the largest part of GDP. The people of Katanga thought that the rest of Congo depended on their wealth and hard work. Tshombe was sure that Katanga was economically viable and could sustain itself if independence was declared. This convinced Tshombe to declare the independence of Katanga on the 11th of July 1960.

 

The weakness of the central government of Kasavubu and Lumumba. The independence government of Congo was born out of a marriage of convenience of the MNC of Lumumba and ABAKO of Kasavubu. The two leaders were ideologically opposed to each other. Kasavubu was capitalist, federalist and liberalist while Lumumba was socialist and unitarist. The two leaders were too locked up in a power struggle over who had more power than the other.

 

In September 1960, Kasavubu bypassed parliament and violated the constitution in dismissing the Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba. In response, Lumumba used his constitutional powers to dismiss the president, Kasavubu. With such confusion and infighting in the government, Tshombe declared the independence of Katanga, anticipating no formidable resistance from the central government.

 

The army mutiny of July 1960 precipitated the attempted breakaway of Katanga. The Congolese national army, the Force Publique, mutinied. The African Section of the army went on rampage on the 5th July 1960, killing many Belgians. The Africans were underpaid and they detested the Belgian domination of the army. The commander of the army, General Jensens, was brutal and opposed to the Africanisation of the Congolese army. The mutiny created a breakdown of law and order, which Tshombe exploited to declare the independence of Katanga. Belgium flew in troops supposedly to curb the situation but the troops ended up supporting Katanga.

 

The reluctance and weakness of the UNO. Patrice Lumumba invited the UNO to Congo to help stabilise the country. The UNO sent a peace keeping force composed of troops from Nigeria, Ghana, Sweden, Ireland and India, which landed in Kinshasa in July 1960. But the UNO troops were given a mandate of keeping law and order and were refused to get involved in the war. The failure of the UNO to militarily intervene and end the crisis encouraged Tshombe to stick to his plan of creating the state of Katanga. But in 1963, UNO forces joined hands with the Congolese national army to defeat Katanga.

 

Secessionist struggles in Asia influenced the attempted breakaway of Katanga. Asia and Africa have historic ties to the extent that what happens on one continent affects the other. In 1947, Pakistan successfully broke away from India and became independent. This precedent remained fresh in the minds of sub-ethnic nationalists like Moise Tshombe. Tshombe used the India - Pakistan case study to justify his secessionist bid. He reasoned that any people threatened with genocide have a right to form a state to protect them.

 

The division of African countries over the Congo problem also caused the secessionist attempt. Nigeria, Tunisia and Sudan were sympathetic to Tshombe and Katanga. Ghana, Guinea and Egypt supported the central government's effort to defeat the secession and condemned Tshombe. The division among African states over Katanga favoured Tshombe's bid to break away Katanga.

 

The cold war between the East and West. Patrice Lumumba was a socialist and the Soviet Union wanted to use him to turn Congo into a communist appendage. On the other hand, Kasavubu was a capitalist. As Lumumba and Kasavubu fought ideological battles on behalf of the super powers, Tshombe exploited the situation to declare the independence of Katanga.

 

Patrice Lumumba's personality and policies. Lumumba lacked the political experience, tactics and skills to defuse the delicate and intricate situation in Congo at the time of independence. Instead, he took a radical and communist stand. This alienated the Belgians and Kasavubu, who were key players in Congo's politics. Lumumba refused to yield to any legitimate demands of Katanga. This hardened Tshombe and made him declare the break away of Katanga. In 1961, Lumumba was captured and handed over to Tshombe, who wasted no time in murdering him.

 

The absence of Pan African spirit in Congo. The Belgians successfully insulated Congo from nationalistic and Pan-African activities elsewhere in Africa. Patrice Lumumba only attended the Accra Conferences of 1958. Therefore, majority Congolese were bound by tribal patronage and didn't know the importance of a united country. The political parties that were formed tribally based. Tshombe declared the state of Katanga partly because he was ignorant about Pan Africanism.

 

The influence of white settlers. Belgium settled thousands of whites in Congo. The white settlers were engaged in a number of economic activities namely mining, agriculture, industry, etc. Several whites settled in Katanga and helped her economy to prosper. The white settlers fully backed Katanga's break away. This encouraged Tshombe to go ahead and declare the independence of Katanga.

 

The geographical vastness of Congo. Congo is the third largest country in Africa and after independence, the government of Lumumba and Kasavubu failed to exercise full control of all the parts of the country. The leaders of Congo were inexperienced and failed to hold the country together. This encouraged Tshombe to declare Katanga independent from the rest of Congo.

 

The high levels of illiteracy and ignorance. Much as missionary education was extensive in Congo, the emphasis remained on primary education. Congolese who wished to go beyond primary education were often forced to study priesthood. Therefore, majority Congolese remained ignorant, backward and illiterate. Many did not know the importance of unity and nation building. Tshombe rode on the ignorance of Congolese to gain support for and declare Katanga independent.

 

By 4 September all Belgian troops had officially left the Congo. In reality, as Rajeshwar Dayal, the UN Special Representative, reported to the UN Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjold, on 2 November, Belgian military and para-military personnel were being recruited in Brussels and were arriving in both Katanga and Kasai in steady numbers to reinforce those already there. Diamond-rich southern Kasai had also seceded from the Congo, in August, when Albert Kalonji, an ex-MNC supporter of Lumumba, set himself up as a local ethnic Baluba ruler and self-styled 'King' with Belgian military and economic backing.

 

The UN was unable to use force to end secession. Ii was reliant on the approval of the West in the Security Council, and the West in general approved Katangan defiance of the apparent 'radical threat' posed by Lumumba. The fourth resolution of a series adopted in the Security Council on 9 August reads as follows: 'Reaffirms that the United Nations Force in the Congo will not be a party to or in any way intervene in or be used to influence the outcome of any internal conflict, constitutional or otherwise.'

LUMUMBA founded the Congolese National Movement (MNC). He was murdered in Katanga by Mercenaries allegedly as Tshombe happily watched

Thus Hammarskjold find his representatives could use UN troops only to impose law and order but not to - interfere in internal political disputes, such as the rivalry between Kasavubu and Lumumba or the issue of Katangan secession, even if the Belgians interfered with or even engineered such disputes. The UN had to rely, on negotiations with Tshombe in the hope of winning him round to abandoning Katanga's 'independence'.

 

Faced with the UN's ineffectiveness, Lumumba felt forced to turn to the Soviet Union for military aid to crush secession. Twelve Soviet planes brought lorries, weapons and ammunition; the revitalized ANC (Congolese National Army), the transformed Force Publique, occupied much of Kasai by the end of August. Lumumba then planned an ANC invasion of Katanga. This was not accomplished because his government collapsed.

 

On 5 September President Kasavubu, confident of secret United States support, and fearing Lumumba's radicalism and ties with the Soviet Union, declared the Prime Minister dismissed. Kasavubu's action was quite illegal; only parliament could dismiss the Prime Minister. In his turn Lumumba illegally declared Kasavubu to be deposed. The Chamber of Deputies revoked both dismissals. But it was quite impossible for Kasavubu and Lumumba to work together any more. Kasavubu appointed Joseph Ileo as the new 'Prime Minister' and expelled Soviet and Czech diplomats and technicians.
On 13 September Colonel Mobutu, Chief of Staff of the ANC. seized Leopoldville (Kinshasa) with only 200 men, and declared he had assumed power until 30 December. This act was in fact a cover for Kasavubu's plans, and a successful attempt to detach the ANC from Lumumba. In practice, Kasavubu and Ileo continued to rule. Lumumba lost the power struggle with Kasavubu because he was unable to consolidate his position by compromises or by concentrating on establishing his administration. When the UN failed to restore him as Prime Minister he attacked the organization as intemperately as he abused Kasavubu. Lumumba was unable to pick off one enemy at a time and his tack of tactics played into the hands of the unscrupulous Kasavubu and Tshombe.

MOBUTU SESE SEKO The staunchy pro-western leader who rid Congo of secessions and other political chaos by establishing a stable government. He left power miserably in 1997.
The fall of Lumumba weakened the Congo's centralizing forces and encouraged the country's centrifugal forces.
On 27 November Lumumba secretly left his house in Leopoldville, where he was protected by UN troops, in order to attend his infant daughter's burial in Stanleyville (later Kisangani). On 30 November he was arrested by ANC troops at Mweka near Port Francqui, was severely beaten up and brought back to the capital, and then taken to an army camp near Thysville. The pleas of Dayal and Hammarskjold for proper medical treatment for Lumumba were ignored by Kasavubu. In December some of Lumumba's followers, led by his Deputy Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga, set up a rival government to Kasavubu's at Stanleyville, the provincial capital of the Bangala people, Lumumba's and the MNC's main supporters. Gizenga was President of the Parti Solidaire Africain (PSA), the MNC's parliamentary allies; he was more of a socialist than Lumumba was, but not a communist. The setting up of the Stanleyville government was not an act of rebellion against the Congo government but the relocation of that government away from Leopoldville.

The Stanleyville Cabinet was largely Lumumba's government without Lumumba. Thus the country had split into at least four rival administrations, at Leopoldville and Stanleyville (both claiming to be the central government) and in South Kasai and at Elisabethville (secessionist). But the threat of a Lumumbaist revival based on Stanleyville drove the other two main centres of authority into an unholy alliance to eliminate the focus of Lumumbaism: Patrice Lumumba himself.

 

On 17 January 1961 Lumumba, with two companions, Maurice Mpolo, Minister of Youth and Sport, and Joseph Okiro, Vice-President of the Senate, was moved from Thysville to Katanga and handed over to Tshombe. The three prisoners were probably killed on the day of their arrival in Elisabethville, by Belgians in the presence of Tshombe and two of his ministers, though the Katanga government put out a story that they escaped and were killed by villagers. Thus Kasavubu and Mobutu got Tshombe to eliminate Lumumba for them, and the UN which had been called to the Congo by Lumumba had been unable to protect his own life.

National Movements and New States in Africa