Comments on "Zaire, and the many faces of Mobutu"

[<k>]

Parent topic:  Zaire, and the many faces of Mobutu
All comments are welcome.

[africancoins]

This medallic portrait of Mobutu is rather similar to that on the 1988 coins.

Image done many years ago.

Thanks Mr Paul Baker

[Figleaf]

Good story, great illustrations. What a sad and unlucky place Zaïre is. One of the puzzles of development economics is why several countries that have great reserves of natural resources are among the poorest and worst governed on earth. Congo, Nigeria, Birma, Venezuela, Angola... I think one of the main drivers is hyper-corruption.

I heard a Congolese joke once. A beggar was robbed and screamed as a motorcade with Mobutu passed. Mobutu detailed a policeman to find out what the beggar was screaming about. The beggar complained he had been robbed, so the policeman asked "which way did the thief go?" The beggar pointed at the direction where the motorcade had disappeared...

Peter