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Zaire The Adoula Government, August 1961-July 1964
In the months preceding the investiture of the Adoula
government, several conferences were held between the
representatives of the central caretaker government and
the
Katangan authorities for the specific purpose of reaching
agreement
on the constitutional framework of a reunified Congo.
These
meetings included the Léopoldville Round Table
(January-February
1961), the Tananarive Conference (in Madagascar in March),
and the
Coquilhatville Conference (Coquilhatville is now Mbandaka,
AprilMay ). The Tananarive Conference called for a confederated
form of
government, but the notion of confederation met with
strong
opposition in Léopoldville. By contrast, the
Coquilhatville
Conference recommended the establishment of a federal
system as the
future form of government. Tshombe opposed this plan.
Finally, after extensive negotiations, parliament met
at
Lovanium University outside Léopoldville on July 25, 1961,
with the
participation of deputies from all provinces, including
Katanga and
South Kasai (which ended its secession at that time). On
August 2,
Adoula was elected prime minister by a unanimous vote of
confidence, thus bringing to an end the constitutional
crisis
triggered by the conflict between Lumumba and Kasavubu.
There
remained the more arduous task of resolving once and for
all the
Katangan secession, reducing the last vestiges of
dissidence in
Stanleyville, and elaborating the constitutional framework
that
would replace the Fundamental Law.
As noted earlier, not until January 1963, and only
after a
violent showdown with UN forces, was the secession of
Katanga
decisively crushed; and it took another year before the
rival
claimant to national power, the Stanleyville government,
was
brought to heel. Meanwhile, Adoula gave immediate priority
to the
task outlined in his inaugural declaration, "to take
adequate
measures permitting each region to administer itself
according to
its profound aspirations," and to initiate the
constitutional
revisions required by this objective. The result was the
elimination of the former six provinces and their
replacement by
twenty-one smaller administrative entities, known as
provincettes. The new formula proved thoroughly
unworkable,
however. Reducing the size of the provinces merely shifted
the
focus of ethnic conflict to a smaller arena, a phenomenon
further
encouraged by the sheer arbitrariness of their boundaries
and the
emergence of several bitterly contested areas. While
sharply
reinforcing ethnic animosities, the creation of the new
provincettes was made more problematic still by the
dearth
of competent administrators, frequent recourse to force
and
skulduggery, and rampant corruption.
Despite its inauspicious beginnings, the new
arrangement was
formalized in the new constitution adopted by referendum
in June
and July 1964. And arrangements were made to change the
country's
name to Democratic Republic of the Congo with effect from
August 1,
1964. By then, however, many of the provincettes
were in a
state of semi-anarchy, and at least three had fallen into
the hands
of rebel forces. The stage was set for yet another trial
of
strength between the central government and dissident
forces.
Data as of December 1993
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