Role Model for Zaire

Zaire’s current horror will not result in a permanent hell if Laurent Kabila, the rebel leader expected to replace Mobutu Sese Seko, learns from political success stories elsewhere in Africa.

A peaceful transition from the destructive dictatorship of Mobutu, who is very ill with prostate cancer, could begin as early as this weekend. That’s when a meeting is scheduled between the man who has long ruled and ruined this wealthy nation and the man who has led rebel forces to within 150 miles of Kinshasa, the capital.

This session, if it materializes, will be credited in part to the intervention of South Africa’s President Nelson Mandela, who is increasingly using his broad moral authority to influence African crises.

The Organization of African Unity, once reluctant to get involved in the internal affairs of its members, also has put appropriate pressure on Zaire and other troubled nations to get rid of their dictators. From outside of Africa, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has targeted the Zairian conflict, and President Clinton dispatched Bill Richardson, his U.N. ambassador, to encourage a diplomatic end to the civil war.

Kabila is unequivocally clear: Mobutu must go now. The despot’s government, one of the longest-lasting and most corrupt in Africa, has succeeded in bleeding a rich nation at the expense of most of the population. In power since 1965, Mobutu has stolen billions and lived in luxury at home and abroad.

As Kabila closes in on his goal, he should be rigorous in controlling his soldiers. There must be no more human rights abuses like the recent kidnapping of Rwandan refugee children, a tragedy now being investigated by the United Nations. Kabila has denied ordering the kidnapping, but he has made no secret of his alliance with Tutsis from eastern Zaire, traditional enemies of the Hutu tribe. Kabila has ordered all Rwandan refugees, primarily Hutus, to return from Zaire to their home country within 60 days, an unrealistic deadline that should be extended.

If Kabila prevails, his assumption of power must be a change for the better. He can lead Zaire out of poverty and political instability if he looks to the example of the shrewdly pragmatic Mandela, who put together an elected government that includes old enemies and represents all of South Africa. The long-suffering people of Zaire deserve nothing less.