Mobutu Sese Soko

Like so many other African countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo was taken over by rouge military officers upon the deportation of former colonial powers. Many of the new leaders preached for unity and nationalism, only to turn into ruthless despotic leaders. They not only stole from their country but gave little to nothing back to their people. Mobutu Sese Soko was one such ruler. Joseph Desire Mobutu, the former dictator of Zaire or Democratic …

…began to decline. Mobutu was a zealous dictator, who ruled for thirty two years, before falling ill. He fled the country and lived the rest of his life in palace near Gbadolite, only to die of cancer in 1997. At the time of his downfall, Bobutut still owned palaces and luxury residences in Zaire, Morocco, South Africa, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal. A wine collection at his castle in Portugal was worth an estimated $2.3 million.