Son of Mobutu Sese Seko returns to Congo

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Son of Mobutu Sese Seko returns to Congo

The eldest surviving son of former Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko returned from exile on Sunday and a spokesman said his party would run in elections due in two years' time.

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The eldest surviving son of former Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko returned from exile on Sunday and a spokesman said his party would run in elections due in two years' time.

Manda, 43, who has lived in France, Ivory Coast and South Africa, is the second of Mobutu's official sons to have returned since a peace deal was signed in April to end five years of war in Africa's third-largest country.

He fled Congo a few months before his late father was ousted in 1997 by rebels led by Laurent Kabila.

About 200 supporters cheered Manda, who returned with sister Yanga, outside the airport in the capital Kinshasa.

"We are putting ourselves up for elections in two years' time," Manda's spokesman Francois Nzekuye told reporters.

He did not say whether Manda, who created his party Rally while in exile in Paris, would himself run for president.

The return of Mobutu's family members as well as some politicians from his era has been encouraged by President Joseph Kabila, who came to power when his father Laurent was murdered in 2001.

Kabila signed a peace deal with foreign-backed rebels this year that envisages multi-party elections by the end of 2005, Congo's first democratic polls in four decades.

Manda's half-brother Nzanga, 33, returned in August, also hoping to gain a foothold in the post-war political scene.

Mobutu, known as "The Leopard," had 10 children -- three of whom have died -- from his two known wives and a number of unofficial offspring.

His 32-year rule in the mineral-rich former Zaire became synonymous with corruption, mismanagement and brutality.

Mobutu amassed a fortune by siphoning Congo's wealth through personal accounts to maintain a lavish lifestyle, pay off rivals and destroy enemies. He died in exile in Morocco months after being forced to flee his country.

Source: Agencies

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