Mobutu institutionalized his power in a one-party state, under the Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution (MPR) and through sweeping presidential powers.
Serious rebellions were suppressed in Shaba Province with the aid of France and Belgium. Moves toward democracy were halted, and a new constitution made Mobutu chair of the ruling MPR Party.
The U.S. threatened to discontinue aid—$46 million annually—because of human rights abuses in Zaire, including the recent disruption of opposition meetings and the arrest of leaders.
A crisis in Zaire included widespread violence by soldiers and civilians. Pres. Mobutu Sese Seko (formerly Joseph Désiré Mobutu) fired recently named premier Étienne Tshisekedi.
In a report issued by the World Health Organization the death toll from a recent outbreak of the Ebola virus in Zaire was 153. On Aug. 28 WHO declared the end to this outbreak.
The Zairean army began fighting Tutsi rebels and dissidents of diverse origins who had formed the Alliance des forces démocratiques pour la libération du Congo-Zaire (AFDL). Many Rwandan Hutu refugees remained stranded in eastern Zaire.
