Mobutu Sese Seko
Biography
Mobutu Sese Seko was a Congolese politician and military officer who rose to power through a 1960 coup, deposing the democratically elected government of Patrice Lumumba. He served as president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1971 and later became the first and only president of Zaire from 1971 to 1997. Mobutu's rule was marked by authoritarianism and a totalitarian regime, which he maintained through the Popular Movement of the Revolution.