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Wednesday, 30 August, 2000, 16:32 GMT 17:32 UK
Mobutu's legacy: Show over substance
![]() A fashion icon? He kept leopards as pets
By author and journalist Michela Wrong
When Mobutu Sese Seko, late president of Zaire, was at the height of his powers, he decreed his citizens should no longer wear Western jackets and ties. As part of a great return to African values, the population must adopt the "abacost" - a collar-less jacket worn with a cravat whose complex folds seemed worthy of a Regency dandy. Uniform
I was reminded of Mobutu's bizarre fashion sense during a visit to his villa in Goma, eastern Zaire, in late 1996. The rebel forces that would send Mobutu into exile just seven months later had seized the town and the residence had been looted.
On close inspection, the sartorial trick was revealed. Far from being a sophisticated arrangement of pleats, this was nothing but a velcro bib, made from rather scratchy nylon. Style over content It was a small detail, but it said so much about Mobutu's regime, the triumph of show over substance.
Yet for 32 years he was courted by the West, feared by his citizens and treated with respect by African contemporaries. Dramatic performance I decided to write a book to try and establish how he succeeded in getting away with it for so long. The list of those who contributed, directly or indirectly, to one of the great dramatic performances of modern times spans centuries and continents.
In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz - Living on the Brink of Disaster in the Congo, is Michela Wrong's first book. It is published in the UK by Fourth Estate.
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