0:00:02 > 0:00:08This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting
0:00:08 > 0:00:10Congo - one of the wildest,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13most colourful and anarchic countries on our planet.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19For centuries, adventurers and explorers have come here,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22staking their lives on making fortunes.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26The huge Congo River would be the key that unlocked
0:00:26 > 0:00:28the riches of Central Africa.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Today the country often makes the news for horrifying violence
0:00:33 > 0:00:35and barbarity.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Many millions have died in recent wars.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43This harrowing place really does provide a little window
0:00:43 > 0:00:46into the goings-on in this unstable part of Congo.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51I'm going to find out how Congo's troubles today
0:00:51 > 0:00:56are rooted in the past - unravelling an astonishing history
0:00:56 > 0:01:00that links Congo's story to the rest of us and that of the world.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03This area has provided the raw materials that have
0:01:03 > 0:01:06contributed to our industrial development for generations.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13I'm travelling through Congo to find out how
0:01:13 > 0:01:16slavery, colonialism, corruption and war
0:01:16 > 0:01:21have shaped the history of this beautiful but troubled land.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23The minerals under these mountains could give Congo
0:01:23 > 0:01:25a much better future.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54This is the mouth of the Congo River.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57This is where it pours into the Atlantic at a rate of
0:01:57 > 0:02:01a million and a half cubic feet every second.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Up that way is 3,000 miles of river.
0:02:04 > 0:02:05Of all the rivers on the planet,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08only the Amazon contains more fresh water.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23I visited a fishing community near the mouth of the Congo River.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27For centuries, people fished these waters unaware of the world outside.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33In 1482, the inhabitants on this coastline would have seen
0:02:33 > 0:02:35an extraordinary sight -
0:02:35 > 0:02:39ships carrying the first Portuguese expedition to these waters.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42It was a ground-breaking moment in the history of Congo.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44It was the start of European involvement,
0:02:44 > 0:02:46and much of that would be predatory.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57The Portuguese encountered an organised and complex
0:02:57 > 0:03:02African society here, with its own capital city and king.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09The ancient Kingdom of Kongo was based around here -
0:03:09 > 0:03:12near today's Democratic Republic of Congo's
0:03:12 > 0:03:14narrow strip of Atlantic coast.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22These early European explorers traded guns and goods
0:03:22 > 0:03:26with local chiefs, in return for a very specific and lucrative cargo.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Simon Lemo - one of the chiefs of the fishing community -
0:03:35 > 0:03:38showed me artefacts left over from the slave trade.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Over the next few hundred years, at least four million slaves
0:04:07 > 0:04:09were removed through this stretch of coast,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12some to British colonies in the West Indies,
0:04:12 > 0:04:17helping to make the cities of London, Liverpool and Bristol rich.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20The slave trade utterly destroyed the Kingdom of Kongo.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23The Europeans defeated it militarily, killed its king,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25wiped out its ruling elite.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28The slave traders realised it would be far easier to harvest slaves
0:04:28 > 0:04:32from the interior if it was in a condition of chaos.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36They destroyed a complex African society
0:04:36 > 0:04:38and decimated the population.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54European expeditions - one of them British - tried to explore
0:04:54 > 0:04:56further inland up the Congo River...
0:04:58 > 0:04:59..but they never got very far.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05In the colonial period, the Europeans relied heavily on rivers
0:05:05 > 0:05:07to help them penetrate new territory.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09This is why this part of Central Africa
0:05:09 > 0:05:12remained off limits for so long.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Only a hundred miles from the sea, the Congo River is ripped apart
0:05:16 > 0:05:21with 220 miles of extraordinary rapids and cataracts like this one.
0:05:21 > 0:05:26These rapids are what kept Europeans out of Central Africa for centuries.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Gushing at ten million gallons of water a second,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39these rapids have the greatest flow on the planet.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44The river here could generate more hydroelectricity
0:05:44 > 0:05:46than any other place in the world.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53If it's harnessed properly, this could power the whole of Africa.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59It took centuries before the barrier of the rapids
0:05:59 > 0:06:01was passed by explorers.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08Astonishingly, the breakthrough came with an expedition in the
0:06:08 > 0:06:11late 19th century that came from the other direction.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19The explorers travelled from the Indian Ocean,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21thousands of miles across Africa
0:06:21 > 0:06:24using the navigable stretches of the Congo River.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27It was one of the greatest journeys in history.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31JEEP HORN BLARES
0:06:41 > 0:06:46In 1877, they arrived here - the town of Boma,
0:06:46 > 0:06:4860 miles from the mouth of the river.
0:06:51 > 0:06:57Welsh-born Henry Morton Stanley took 999 days to reach here
0:06:57 > 0:07:01from the East coast of Africa, traversing the continent.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04By crossing Central Africa, Stanley had achieved something that
0:07:04 > 0:07:06no-one had ever done before,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08and he'd blazed a trail
0:07:08 > 0:07:10into the African interior
0:07:10 > 0:07:13that other Europeans were only too eager to follow.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27When Stanley arrived in Boma, there was just a small number
0:07:27 > 0:07:29f Portuguese traders here,
0:07:29 > 0:07:31but he had a much bigger vision.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Stanley hoped that Great Britain would claim the land
0:07:36 > 0:07:37he'd travelled through.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40But British colonial interests at the time lay elsewhere.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46One man, though, was very interested -
0:07:46 > 0:07:48Leopold, King of the Belgians.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51He didn't have an empire and he was desperate for one.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56Together, he and Stanley set to impose their control on the
0:07:56 > 0:08:00vast swathe of Central Africa not already occupied by other European powers.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09Boma became the capital of Leopold's private colony -
0:08:09 > 0:08:11the Congo Free State.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16I went to visit one of Boma's oldest secondary schools
0:08:16 > 0:08:18to attend a history lesson.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Leopold's story is part of the curriculum.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Leopold's personal fiefdom brought together
0:08:44 > 0:08:46200 different ethnic groups
0:08:46 > 0:08:50into one territory that was 80 times the size of Belgium.
0:08:50 > 0:08:51It would take its name
0:08:51 > 0:08:52from the Congo River,
0:08:52 > 0:08:53and it's absolutely enormous -
0:08:53 > 0:08:55the second largest country
0:08:55 > 0:08:56in Africa today,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58and it's the size of Western Europe.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05The pupils here have formed firm views about their country's past.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30COCKEREL CROWS
0:09:46 > 0:09:50Above the rapids, boats now travel along Stanley's old route.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55The Congo River is navigable for 1,000 miles,
0:09:55 > 0:09:57running right through the heart of Central Africa.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05All human life is here on this extraordinary boat.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07It's one of many that provide a vital link for passengers
0:10:07 > 0:10:10and goods between Congo's large river cities.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Our captain has been sailing these waters for 20 years.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24So from Kinshasa, the capital, right the way to Kisangani inland,
0:10:24 > 0:10:26how long would that take by boat on average?
0:10:31 > 0:10:32And what about by road?
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Back in the late 19th century, the Congo River was crucial
0:10:44 > 0:10:46to the colonial project.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52To Leopold, this river with its tributaries was a highway,
0:10:52 > 0:10:55that would allow him to open up the interior
0:10:55 > 0:10:57that for so long had been inaccessible to white men.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12I stopped off in the river town of Mbandaka on the Equator,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15deep in Congo's enormous rainforest.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22The settlement was founded by Leopold's agents in 1883.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28It was one of many colonial river stations that served
0:11:28 > 0:11:33as a base for Leopold's army to impose control over Congo's tribes.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40It was a huge and ambitious project, which cost an absolute fortune.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52BICYCLE BELLS RING
0:11:59 > 0:12:01King Leopold had got himself badly into debt
0:12:01 > 0:12:05investing in infrastructure for his new private colony.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09He badly needed to find a way to get something back on that investment.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12And that's when another Brit rode to the rescue.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15John Dunlop invented the rubber bicycle tyre,
0:12:15 > 0:12:21and in doing so ignited the late 19th century's love for biking.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28And it wasn't just bicycles.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Soon the entire industrial world had fallen in love with rubber,
0:12:31 > 0:12:35using it for things like insulation on electrical cabling.
0:12:35 > 0:12:36Fortunately for Leopold,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40half of the world's wild rubber supply was here in the Congo.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57I was taken into the rainforest -
0:12:57 > 0:12:59the world's second largest after the Amazon -
0:12:59 > 0:13:01by members of a local pygmy tribe.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06They still collect wild rubber, which they,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09like their ancestors, use as poison to kill wild animals.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19The local hunters stopped to set up camp to collect the rubber,
0:13:19 > 0:13:21which is tapped and ground out of the bark of trees.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26So am I making the poison here?
0:13:29 > 0:13:30'I attempted to give them a hand.'
0:13:32 > 0:13:34OK, bigger one.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36You have a bigger one? Thank you.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39That's much better. Yeah.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41Ah! Ah! Wonderful! That's more like it.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47This sticky white substance, wild rubber,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50made Leopold a vast fortune.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04Back in the late 19th century, Leopold had a problem -
0:14:04 > 0:14:09how to harvest enough of this wild rubber to take full advantage
0:14:09 > 0:14:12of soaring global rubber prices.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15The answer was brutally simple.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18Use the military out here to force the Congolese people
0:14:18 > 0:14:20into the jungles to collect it.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24The Congo became one vast labour camp,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26and the punishments meted out were barbaric.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE AND WHISTLES
0:14:36 > 0:14:39On their way to hunt, the locals stopped to re-enact,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42for our benefit, scenes of how their ancestors were forced
0:14:42 > 0:14:45to collect rubber by Leopold's agents.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Even after 100 years, there's still a strong sense
0:14:56 > 0:14:58here of the brutality and horror of that era.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Congolese refusing to harvest rubber could be shot.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Hands were collected by soldiers to prove they'd killed,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30but the limbs of the living were also severed.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Nobody knows for sure how many Congolese died
0:15:46 > 0:15:50as a result of the disease and starvation caused by Leopold's administration
0:15:50 > 0:15:52or the murder that it carried out.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Figures range from the low millions up to ten million,
0:15:55 > 0:15:59which is half of the Congolese population at the time.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02Either way, it's one of the greatest atrocities of the 20th century,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05and yet today, it's virtually forgotten.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20A ground-breaking international human rights campaign
0:16:20 > 0:16:24exposing the cruelty eventually forced Leopold to give up
0:16:24 > 0:16:26his private colony that he'd never set foot in.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31He handed it over to the Belgian government in 1908.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33A new country was established...
0:16:35 > 0:16:36..the Belgian Congo.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45It would be another valuable natural resource that would
0:16:45 > 0:16:48provide riches to the Congo's new rulers.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55TRAIN HORN TOOTS
0:17:04 > 0:17:08I'm perched on top of 850 tonnes of Congolese copper
0:17:08 > 0:17:10heading straight out of the country.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17I travelled to Katanga Province in Southeast Congo.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24This is one of the most mineral-rich areas on earth,
0:17:24 > 0:17:26as the European colonists were soon to discover.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31The Congo's new rulers, the Belgians,
0:17:31 > 0:17:35were as keen as Leopold had been for this place to make money.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38The international rubber price dipped at the beginning of the 20th century,
0:17:38 > 0:17:41but luckily for the Belgians, just then the world's largest
0:17:41 > 0:17:46supply of copper was found here in Katanga Province.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49That copper went on to fuel industrial expansion
0:17:49 > 0:17:50all round the world.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02By 1911, mining here began in earnest.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08The Belgians brought massive scale industrial capitalism.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10They founded one of the most important mining companies
0:18:10 > 0:18:13in history - the Union Miniere du Haut Katanga,
0:18:13 > 0:18:15half of whose investors were British.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24The company soon became the largest copper producer in the world.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28Its successor company continues to mine in Congo on a vast scale.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33The director of the mine showed me around.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02The Congo provided key minerals for the development
0:19:02 > 0:19:04of Europe's industrial economies.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10In 1914, the Congo's riches would be put to more sinister use
0:19:10 > 0:19:12in the First World War.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Many of the infamous battlefields in France
0:19:21 > 0:19:25and Belgium are a long way from here, where men did the dying.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27But it was bullets and shells
0:19:27 > 0:19:32made in large part from Congolese copper that did the killing.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35In fact, the Allies' access to mines like the one in this area
0:19:35 > 0:19:40proved absolutely decisive in a war where industrial might was vital.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47In the Second World War, the efforts of the Congolese
0:19:47 > 0:19:50and the raw materials they mined would have
0:19:50 > 0:19:53an even greater historic impact on the world.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57Congo's got an extraordinary knack
0:19:57 > 0:19:59of coming up with just the right resources
0:19:59 > 0:20:02at just the right stage of the world's industrial development.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06There was rubber and copper, but perhaps the best example of all
0:20:06 > 0:20:09is the fact that in this province here,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11uranium was mined that was used
0:20:11 > 0:20:15in the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan to end World War II.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20NEWSREADER: The most concentrated release
0:20:20 > 0:20:22of explosive energy in the history of mankind.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27In 1942, when scientists in the United States were designing
0:20:27 > 0:20:30an atomic weapon, the world's largest known supply
0:20:30 > 0:20:33of high-grade uranium was in the Belgian Congo.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46But it wasn't just minerals that helped achieve victory.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51Tens of thousands of Congolese died when the world wars reached Africa.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54The Belgian Congo's army fought in both conflicts,
0:20:54 > 0:20:57helping to defeat Germany and her allies on African soil.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07It was a period of profound change in the Congo.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11The expansion of mining transformed the Congo.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Cities grew and a monetary economy was introduced.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17By the Second World War, one million Congolese were
0:21:17 > 0:21:20in regular, salaried employment.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22The Belgians realised that in order to get the most
0:21:22 > 0:21:25out of their colony, they had to treat the people far better
0:21:25 > 0:21:29than Leopold had done, and living conditions dramatically improved.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34Congolese in the cities may have experienced
0:21:34 > 0:21:37a rise in their standard of living, but they were
0:21:37 > 0:21:41subjected by the Belgian colonisers to a hateful system of apartheid.
0:21:53 > 0:21:54For Petronille Kaboba,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58the memories of growing up in the Belgian Congo are still strong.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34After the Second World War, pressure for change from the Congolese
0:22:34 > 0:22:37was building, as other European colonies were given their freedom.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41STEAM WHISTLE TOOTS
0:22:42 > 0:22:45The country was one of the most developed in Africa,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48but there were deep-seated problems as independence approached.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57Belgium woefully under-prepared this place to govern itself.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01Of 5,000 senior positions in the colonial administration,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04just three were held by Congolese.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08There were only 16 university graduates in this country,
0:23:08 > 0:23:13and not a single lawyer, doctor, economist, army officer or engineer.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27I've come to Kinshasa, the Congo's capital since 1924.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40It's a huge river port and is now Africa's third largest mega-city,
0:23:40 > 0:23:42with a population of more than ten million.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55In 1960, it was the scene of celebration,
0:23:55 > 0:23:58as the Congolese finally enjoyed their independence.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16The Prime Minister of the new country was
0:24:16 > 0:24:19a charismatic young leader called Patrice Lumumba.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23MAN SINGS
0:24:25 > 0:24:27Jamais Kolonga worked for Lumumba.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31I found him listening to the surviving band members
0:24:31 > 0:24:34that played Congo's famous independence theme tune.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45Bravissimo. Bravissimo. Very good.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10The Belgians were determined to retain a strong influence.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13The newly independent Congo had an army,
0:25:13 > 0:25:18administration and economy that were still effectively Belgian-run.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24When the Belgian King arrived for the independence ceremony,
0:25:24 > 0:25:29Patrice Lumumba delivered a vicious critique of colonial rule in the Congo.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Lumumba's speech infuriated the Belgians.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10SHOUTING
0:26:10 > 0:26:12In the weeks after independence,
0:26:12 > 0:26:16Congo was torn apart at lightning speed.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27The rape and murder of a small number of Belgians
0:26:27 > 0:26:30by Congolese prompted an invasion by the Belgian Army.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34A mass exodus of Belgians followed,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37crippling the country's administration and economy.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46Katanga Province, the heart of Congo's economy,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49declared itself independent with tacit Belgian support,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51sparking a civil war.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58A United Nations force was deployed with incredible speed,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01but didn't have a mandate to stop the conflict.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09As the chaos spread, the country was to become a pawn
0:27:09 > 0:27:11in an even bigger struggle.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15At independence, the Congolese believed it was their chance
0:27:15 > 0:27:18to make a fresh start and shape their own future,
0:27:18 > 0:27:22but the strategic position of the country and, of course, its vital resources,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26saw it instantly embroiled in the great superpower rivalry.
0:27:29 > 0:27:30With his young country
0:27:30 > 0:27:31falling apart,
0:27:31 > 0:27:32and facing rebels
0:27:32 > 0:27:34backed by the Belgians,
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba asked
0:27:36 > 0:27:38for support from the Soviet Union.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44His action unwittingly opened a new front in the Cold War.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47The United States deplores the unilateral action
0:27:47 > 0:27:51of the Soviet Union in supplying aircraft
0:27:51 > 0:27:54and other equipment for military purposes to the Congo.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08I'm on patrol with the Congolese Army.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11It has played a critical role in shaping this country.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19In the crisis of 1960, the West used the Congolese Army to maintain
0:28:19 > 0:28:23its influence over the country and counter the Soviet threat.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28The man who would change the course of Congo's history had been
0:28:28 > 0:28:30the relatively low rank of a sergeant under the Belgians.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33But at independence, thanks to his friendship with Lumumba,
0:28:33 > 0:28:37he was catapulted into the top job of the new Congolese Army.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40His name was Joseph Mobutu.
0:28:40 > 0:28:41He was destined to betray his friend,
0:28:41 > 0:28:43seize power and become a key ally
0:28:43 > 0:28:46of the West during the Cold War.
0:28:46 > 0:28:47He was the ultimate
0:28:47 > 0:28:48African strongman.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56NEWSREADER: Patrice Lumumba comes back to Leopoldville a prisoner.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01But Congo's strongman Colonel Joseph Mobutu
0:29:01 > 0:29:03shown as he watches Lumumba arrive,
0:29:03 > 0:29:05says he is prepared to put down any uprising.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12The CIA had plotted to assassinate Lumumba,
0:29:12 > 0:29:13but now Mobutu was on hand
0:29:13 > 0:29:15to dispatch the former premier to his fate.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22It was one of the great political assassinations of the 20th century.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25Patrice Lumumba was flown down here to Lubumbashi.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27On the plane he was badly beaten.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Once here, he was handed over to Belgian-backed rebels,
0:29:30 > 0:29:35who drove him out of town and executed him by firing squad.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39Then a Belgian officer chopped up his body and dissolved it in acid.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42The Cold War had claimed another victim.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57The Cold War fuelled conflict in Congo through much of the 1960s.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05Appalling atrocities were committed by all sides.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09Hundreds of thousands were killed.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18Mobutu, with Western support, battled Soviet-backed rebel groups,
0:30:18 > 0:30:20finally regaining control over the country.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29Emerging victorious, Mobutu seized power, making himself president.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36CROWD CHANTS
0:30:36 > 0:30:40Mobutu quickly adopted the trappings of power,
0:30:40 > 0:30:42and backed by Western governments including Britain,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45he would remain as President for the next three decades.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57Mobutu wasn't interested in democracy and human rights.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00Under him, suspected coup-plotters were publicly hanged,
0:31:00 > 0:31:03and there was violent oppression of the opposition.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05APPLAUSE
0:31:05 > 0:31:08Many people were scared of his form of authoritarianism,
0:31:08 > 0:31:12but many others were quite happy with the stability that he brought.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16He also set about building a modern Congolese nation.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18The first decade at least, things went well.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21The economy grew at 7% per year.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23It was time for a celebration.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26CHEERING
0:31:32 > 0:31:34Mobutu did nothing by halves.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39In 1974, he put on one of the world's greatest sporting events -
0:31:39 > 0:31:41the Rumble in the Jungle.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49He invited two of history's great heavyweight boxers,
0:31:49 > 0:31:52George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, to fight here in Kinshasa.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03This is Kinshasa's oldest boxing club.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07They still spar in the same ring that was used in the 1974 fight.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11THEY SING
0:32:15 > 0:32:18Boxing coach Jimmy Mukuna was at the Rumble in the Jungle.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42After years of civil war and division,
0:32:42 > 0:32:45the Rumble in the Jungle was aimed at giving the Congolese
0:32:45 > 0:32:48a sense of belonging to one nation for the first time.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56It also put Mobutu at the centre of the world stage
0:32:56 > 0:32:57and helped cement his power.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12Mobutu had changed the name of the river
0:33:12 > 0:33:14and of the country from Congo to Zaire.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18It was his attempt to restore African identity and pride
0:33:18 > 0:33:22after it had so many years being stamped down on by the colonisers.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Mobutu pulled down the statues of Stanley
0:33:32 > 0:33:34and Leopold in the centre of Kinshasa...
0:33:36 > 0:33:39..but his economic policies were an unmitigated disaster.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49He launched the largest nationalisation programme in Africa,
0:33:49 > 0:33:52taking businesses from foreigners.
0:33:52 > 0:33:53The economy nose-dived.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59The situation was made much worse by the corruption of Mobutu's regime.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08Zizi Kabongo lived through the decades of Mobutu's rule.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12He's now director of a Congolese radio station.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36SINGING AND CHANTING
0:35:02 > 0:35:05There's one place in Congo that is a powerful symbol
0:35:05 > 0:35:07of Mobutu's increasingly crazed regime.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13It lies deep in the rainforest and is rarely visited.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18I'm heading on a journey hundreds of miles into
0:35:18 > 0:35:20the northern Congolese jungle.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22It's one of the most remote places in Africa.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35GREGORIAN CHANT
0:35:35 > 0:35:39After two days of gruelling travel, I finally arrived in Gbadolite.
0:35:45 > 0:35:50In the late 1970s, Mobutu decided to build an enormous palace here -
0:35:50 > 0:35:52his very own Xanadu.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54A place to hide out,
0:35:54 > 0:35:57relax and listen to his favourite music - Gregorian chant.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06Jean Bangaswa was one of Mobutu's
0:36:06 > 0:36:08personal bodyguards for 14 years.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14He showed me round the remains of this extraordinary testament
0:36:14 > 0:36:15to one man's megalomania.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19This is the chamber, the President's bedroom?
0:36:35 > 0:36:38Mobutu would fly his many mistresses here,
0:36:38 > 0:36:40one of whom was the twin sister of his wife.
0:37:18 > 0:37:22This place cost $100 million to build, some of that
0:37:22 > 0:37:27no doubt coming from the billions in aid money that Zaire was sucking in.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31The place cost approximately $15 million to run every month
0:37:31 > 0:37:33at its peak, and that doesn't include the largesse
0:37:33 > 0:37:36that he used to distribute from his office there -
0:37:36 > 0:37:38designer suitcases packed with $100 bills.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46Mobutu even built a large, now defunct,
0:37:46 > 0:37:48international airport at Gbadolite.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52It had a runway long enough for Concorde to use.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16It would not be the last time Concorde
0:38:16 > 0:38:18would fly here on private hire.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30Some of the palace staff still live nearby,
0:38:30 > 0:38:32including Jean Ngoyi - a chef.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36I'd heard about his great cooking, and asked him to prepare
0:38:36 > 0:38:39a feast in memory of the powerful dictator.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43What was the President's favourite food?
0:38:50 > 0:38:53He liked nice wine, nice champagne, whisky, things like that?
0:38:57 > 0:39:01'I brought my own champagne along to celebrate this bizarre occasion.'
0:39:03 > 0:39:04Excellent.
0:39:08 > 0:39:09Thank you.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14The last champagne feast in Mobutu's palace.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35Even here, amongst the evidence of astonishing excess
0:39:35 > 0:39:39and corruption, there's strong nostalgia for the Mobutu era.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59Thank you very much, that was delicious!
0:39:59 > 0:40:00Thank you, Jean.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06Mobutu's palaces here at Gbadolite neatly demonstrate
0:40:06 > 0:40:09the problem with Congo's missing billions.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12As you travel round the rest of the country, you see very little evidence
0:40:12 > 0:40:16for the titanic amount of money that's been generated here.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18The schools, the roads and the hospitals
0:40:18 > 0:40:21are not those of a resource-rich country.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25Over the years, first the slave traders, then people like Leopold
0:40:25 > 0:40:27and Mobutu made the money vanish,
0:40:27 > 0:40:29either taking it abroad or wasting it
0:40:29 > 0:40:32here in the Congo, leaving the Congolese people with nothing.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44Outside the tranquillity of Mobutu's jungle palace,
0:40:44 > 0:40:46the world was changing.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52The collapse of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War
0:40:52 > 0:40:56meant Mobutu, the anti-communist ally,
0:40:56 > 0:40:58was no longer needed by the West.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04Aid dried up. Congo's economic crisis worsened.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11But it was events in a tiny neighbouring country to the east
0:41:11 > 0:41:15that sounded the death knell for Mobutu's brutal regime.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22On 6th April 1994, news reached here that
0:41:22 > 0:41:25the presidents of Burundi and Rwanda had been travelling in a plane
0:41:25 > 0:41:28that had been shot down, and they were both killed.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30It was a personal tragedy for Mobutu,
0:41:30 > 0:41:32he was great friends with the President of Rwanda,
0:41:32 > 0:41:33and he ordered his body to be
0:41:33 > 0:41:36brought here to his magnificent personal mausoleum
0:41:36 > 0:41:39so it could lie with dignity until it was returned to Rwanda for burial.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46Little can he have imagined this would be far more
0:41:46 > 0:41:48than just a personal tragedy.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50The death of the Rwandan President would in fact
0:41:50 > 0:41:54set off a violent chain reaction of events that would eventually
0:41:54 > 0:41:57see Mobutu himself swept from power.
0:42:00 > 0:42:02The death of the Rwandan President
0:42:02 > 0:42:05sparked the fastest genocidal killing spree
0:42:05 > 0:42:06of the 20th century.
0:42:06 > 0:42:12800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, were slaughtered in 100 days.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23The Hutu militias responsible for most of the killing
0:42:23 > 0:42:27were driven out to Eastern Congo alongside millions of refugees.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30They were supported by Mobutu when they later attempted
0:42:30 > 0:42:32to regain power in Rwanda.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36SOLDIERS SING
0:42:36 > 0:42:39In response, the Tutsi-led Rwandan government
0:42:39 > 0:42:44supported a rebel army under Laurent Kabila to overthrow Mobutu.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50In 1996 and 1997, it rampaged across Congo
0:42:50 > 0:42:53on a horrifying killing spree,
0:42:53 > 0:42:55heading for the President's jungle retreat.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03Mobutu's final moments in the country
0:43:03 > 0:43:05were spent on the runway at Gbadolite.
0:43:08 > 0:43:13Mobuto's panicked departure from this airport was a sorry end
0:43:13 > 0:43:16to more than three decades of rule.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19The country he left behind him was in a state of chaos.
0:43:19 > 0:43:24Its judiciary, army, civil service - destroyed by corruption,
0:43:24 > 0:43:26forced to feed upon themselves.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29Mobutu had predicted that after him would come chaos,
0:43:29 > 0:43:31and he was in a position to know,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34because the things he'd done whilst in power made it a certainty.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38The people of the Congo were about to discover that the
0:43:38 > 0:43:42only thing worse than a deranged dictator was the anarchic violence
0:43:42 > 0:43:44that all too often follows his removal.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02The country was renamed yet again in 1997,
0:44:02 > 0:44:04following Mobutu's overthrow,
0:44:04 > 0:44:07becoming the Democratic Republic of Congo.
0:44:10 > 0:44:11But there was no fresh start.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16I travelled to Goma - a city of a million people
0:44:16 > 0:44:19on the shore of Lake Kivu in Congo's east, bordering Rwanda.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25This region was at the centre of the wars that ripped the country apart.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34Since then, really for the last 20 years, this area has been
0:44:34 > 0:44:37wracked by chronic instability.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39There's been a series of wars here that have killed
0:44:39 > 0:44:43millions of people, and yet the catastrophe that's unfolded here
0:44:43 > 0:44:46has had precious little attention from the rest of the world.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54The chaos that followed Mobutu's fall led to Africa's
0:44:54 > 0:44:58first inter-state conflict, involving nine nations.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02It was dubbed the Great War of Africa.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16These African invaders and their proxies,
0:45:16 > 0:45:18just like the Europeans before them,
0:45:18 > 0:45:21plundered Congo's resources to fund their ambitions.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26The conflict here was the world's deadliest
0:45:26 > 0:45:27since the Second World War...
0:45:29 > 0:45:31..an estimated five million died.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42A peace deal between the warring sides was signed in 2002,
0:45:42 > 0:45:44but, in reality, the fighting never ended.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47This region is still wracked by conflict.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55I've come to a hospital in Kirotsche in Eastern Congo.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58The area around here has been badly affected by Congo's wars
0:45:58 > 0:46:00over the last two decades.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04Of the millions of Congolese people who died
0:46:04 > 0:46:07during the wars, most were killed not through direct violence,
0:46:07 > 0:46:10but from the conditions that the conflict created.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13There was a huge spread of malnutrition and disease.
0:46:13 > 0:46:17Of the people that were killed, the vast majority weren't combatants, but civilians.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19The death toll was particularly high
0:46:19 > 0:46:23because the wars followed years of state decay.
0:46:23 > 0:46:25Whole areas of the country were left without proper infrastructure
0:46:25 > 0:46:26or medical cover.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37Dr Chantal runs the hospital.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10One in five children in Congo will die before their fifth birthday.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17Joy and his parents have had to move due to recent fighting.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22Close to three million Congolese are currently
0:47:22 > 0:47:24internally displaced as a result of conflict.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35The fighting here has involved widespread and systematic rape.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41Surveys suggest 40% of women in Eastern Congo
0:47:41 > 0:47:44have suffered sexual violence.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47The UN described it as "the rape capital of the world."
0:47:48 > 0:47:51This harrowing place really does provide a little window
0:47:51 > 0:47:54into the goings-on in this unstable part of Congo.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56There's a young lady here who, er, was raped,
0:47:56 > 0:48:00and has just given birth to twins by Caesarean section.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02And she's being kept here until her family can come up
0:48:02 > 0:48:05with the money for her treatment.
0:48:05 > 0:48:06It's just under £50.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13Dr Chantal and Louise Nzigire both assist women
0:48:13 > 0:48:15who have been attacked.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20What's the impact of years of conflict been on Congolese society?
0:49:12 > 0:49:15While many other African countries
0:49:15 > 0:49:17are finally experiencing real economic growth,
0:49:17 > 0:49:19Congo, according to the UN,
0:49:19 > 0:49:23has the worst living conditions for humans in the world.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28Life expectancy has collapsed to 48 since independence.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32The majority live on less than 80 pence a day.
0:49:32 > 0:49:36Few other countries have experienced such catastrophic decline.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52The city of Goma is a major base for the UN peacekeeping force
0:49:52 > 0:49:56that deployed to stabilise Congo from 1999 onwards.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03It's now become the largest and most expensive operation
0:50:03 > 0:50:07in UN history, costing around £1 billion a year.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10That means that the UN has spent more effort
0:50:10 > 0:50:13and money trying to save the Congo than any other nation on earth.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18But it's been a huge challenge.
0:50:18 > 0:50:2220,000 UN troops sounds a lot, but it's a vast country.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31The UN has helped the country through two democratic elections.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34They were won by the son of the man who overthrew Mobutu -
0:50:34 > 0:50:36Joseph Kabila.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46President Kabila is accused of continuing the tradition
0:50:46 > 0:50:50of Congo's past rulers - of making money
0:50:50 > 0:50:51at the expense of the Congolese people
0:50:51 > 0:50:55whilst presiding over a corrupt and dysfunctional state.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01Kabila struggles to impose control over the whole of the country.
0:51:16 > 0:51:21The anarchy unleashed by Congo's wars spawned numerous armed groups
0:51:21 > 0:51:23that still operate largely unchecked,
0:51:23 > 0:51:26in spite of the UN presence in the eastern part of the country.
0:51:30 > 0:51:32I arranged to meet one of the largest
0:51:32 > 0:51:34and most notorious armed groups in the area.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38I travelled north into rebel-held territory.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45I'm on patrol with M23, which is just one of an estimated
0:51:45 > 0:51:4860 armed rebel groups operating in this region alone.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51One of the key problems with the Congolese state
0:51:51 > 0:51:53is that since independence it's been too weak
0:51:53 > 0:51:57and inefficient to really impose its control across this vast state,
0:51:57 > 0:52:00and into that vacuum has stepped groups like this.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09Armed groups in this region often formed during the wars
0:52:09 > 0:52:11to protect communities.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14But all too often, they ended up committing
0:52:14 > 0:52:16terrible human rights abuses against civilians.
0:52:21 > 0:52:23HE SHOUTS IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:52:23 > 0:52:25TROOPS RECIPROCATE
0:52:25 > 0:52:30I was taken by M23 rebels to see new recruits being drilled.
0:52:32 > 0:52:34The M23's rebellion has displaced hundreds of thousands
0:52:34 > 0:52:36of people in the last couple of years.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44Colonel Vianney Kazarama is the group's military spokesman.
0:53:14 > 0:53:16THEY CHANT AND SING
0:53:20 > 0:53:24There is truth in some of the Colonel's claims,
0:53:24 > 0:53:27but M23's rule in this area is brutal.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33Human rights groups have recently documented
0:53:33 > 0:53:36dozens of cases of summary executions,
0:53:36 > 0:53:41rape and forced recruitment by this rebel group - M23.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55I visited the front line during an uneasy truce in the heavy fighting.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00We've pushed down right through no-man's-land.
0:54:00 > 0:54:02This civilian settlement is pretty much deserted
0:54:02 > 0:54:05and we've arrived at the very, very front line of the M23 rebels.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08Just there, 200 metres away, is the UN checkpoint,
0:54:08 > 0:54:10and the two sides are eyeballing each other.
0:54:21 > 0:54:24It's a short walk through no-mans-land to the UN position.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30The UN's now fighting M23 and other rebel groups in this region,
0:54:30 > 0:54:33after being given a tough mandate to disarm and neutralise them.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41The UN's gone to war here with the support of the Congolese Army,
0:54:41 > 0:54:43which has a poor human rights record.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54Showing us the position where yesterday we had this fighting...
0:54:54 > 0:54:57I went on a joint patrol led by Brigadier General Ponnappa
0:54:57 > 0:55:01and his Congolese counterpart Colonel Mamadou Ndala.
0:55:30 > 0:55:31For the Congolese people,
0:55:31 > 0:55:35the prize of a stable, functional and united state would be huge.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41There should be money enough to fund it.
0:55:47 > 0:55:48We've flown right up into the mountains
0:55:48 > 0:55:52and we've come upon this gold mine here on one of the summits.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54Absolutely extraordinary operation.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04As well as gold and copper, Congo is also rich in the resources
0:56:04 > 0:56:08needed to fuel our latest technological revolution -
0:56:08 > 0:56:11coltan for smartphones, cadmium for computers.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17And its resources have helped build the might of
0:56:17 > 0:56:19the growing economies of China and India.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28The workers here in this Canadian-run mine
0:56:28 > 0:56:31are optimistic that finally Congo's resources can be
0:56:31 > 0:56:34transformed from a curse into a blessing.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40Once other investors come into the country, so we see that the
0:56:40 > 0:56:45country will take off quite well economically, and that's happening.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47We know that all Congolese, young engineers
0:56:47 > 0:56:50and people with different skills,
0:56:50 > 0:56:55will find a way of tapping into the riches that the country has.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58And which will benefit the development,
0:56:58 > 0:57:00and the development of the country as a whole.
0:57:02 > 0:57:04CAR HORNS BEEP
0:57:14 > 0:57:18At the end of my journey around Congo, I joined Kinshasa commuters
0:57:18 > 0:57:19on their way home at the end of the day.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25Congo is heavily reliant on aid, the UK alone plans to give
0:57:25 > 0:57:29the country nearly £500 million over the next three years.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36The hope remains that Congo could become an economic dynamo -
0:57:36 > 0:57:39a force for peace and stability at the heart of Africa,
0:57:39 > 0:57:40benefiting us all.
0:57:42 > 0:57:46But for the overwhelming majority of the Congo's 70 million people,
0:57:46 > 0:57:49it's an unremitting struggle just to survive.
0:58:08 > 0:58:10For centuries, the Congolese have been buffeted
0:58:10 > 0:58:13by the great currents of world history -
0:58:13 > 0:58:17slavery, colonisation, the industrial revolution and the Cold War.
0:58:17 > 0:58:21All these have conspired to rob the Congolese of a chance
0:58:21 > 0:58:22to shape their own future.
0:58:22 > 0:58:25Successive regimes have been more interested in plundering
0:58:25 > 0:58:29the land, and since independence there's been no real effort
0:58:29 > 0:58:32to create a modern, functioning state -
0:58:32 > 0:58:34that means that this country,
0:58:34 > 0:58:36which should be so rich thanks to its natural resources,
0:58:36 > 0:58:39is one of the poorest on the planet.
0:58:39 > 0:58:41And the sad truth is that, at present,
0:58:41 > 0:58:42there's little sign of that changing.
0:58:57 > 0:58:58Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd