Pierre Mulele

Simba Rebellion

In January 1964, a new conflict broke out as Congolese rebels calling themselves "Simba" (Swahili for "Lion") rebelled against the government. They were led by Mulele, Gaston Soumialot and Christophe Gbenye, who were former members of Gizenga's Parti Solidaire Africain (PSA). During the Simba Rebellion, Mulele, who had previously undergone training in the Eastern bloc as well as the People's Republic of China, led a Maoist faction in the Kwilu District. This came to be known as the Kwilu Rebellion. Mulele was an avowed Maoist, and for this reason his insurgency was supported by communist China. By the end of April 1964, Mulele's rebellion had been rendered somewhat less dangerous by the government. The USSR, with an embassy in the national capital of Leopoldville, did not support Mulele's Kwilu revolt and had no part in its preparation: lack of support from the Soviets was in the first place responsible for Mulele turning to China as his patron.

Nonetheless, by August the Simba insurgents had captured Stanleyville and set up a rebel government there. However, the Congolese central government requested foreign intervention, and the troops fighting under the command of Soumialot and Gbenye were routed in November 1964, after intense drives by central government troops officered by foreigned mercenaries. The landing of Belgian paratroopers in Stanleyville also proved instrumental in the rebels' defeat, as did key military assistance from the United States. On 24 November 1964, five US Air Force C-130 transports dropped 350 Belgian paratroopers of the Para-Commando Regiment onto the airfield at Stanleyville to rescue 2,000 European civilians being held hostage by the Simbas. This latter move made the United States very unpopular in Africa at the time. After the rebellion's defeat, Mulele fled into exile in Congo-Brazzaville.

In 1968, then-President Joseph-Désiré Mobutu (later Mobutu Sese Seko) lured Mulele out of exile by promising him amnesty. Mulele returned to Congo-Kinshasa, believing he would be granted amnesty. Instead, he was publicly tortured and executed: his eyes were pulled from their sockets, his genitals were ripped off, and his limbs were amputated one by one, all while he was alive. What was left was dumped in the Congo river.

Ideology and Maoism

When the Kwilu rebellion broke out in 1964, the revolt was led by Mulele in a way reminiscent of the Chinese communist revolutionary tactics during the Chinese Civil War. Mulele required his fighters to adhere to a very strict moral code, emphasising self-discipline and respect for civilians. The tribal peasant fighters proved difficult to control and many disregarded Mulele's orders. The eight instructions on conduct Mulele issued to his guerrilla fighters showed the great influence Mao Zedong's writings regarding "people's war" had on the Kwilu insurgency. Mulele's code of conduct was as follows:

1. Respect all men, even bad ones.
2. Buy the goods of villagers in all honesty and without stealing.
3. Return borrowed things in good time and without trouble.
4. Pay for things which you have broken and in good spirit.
5. Do not harm or hurt others.
6. Do not destroy or trample on other people's land.
7. Respect women and do not amuse yourselves with them as you would like to.
8. Do not make your prisoners of war suffer.

The attempt to adapt Maoist Chinese practice to African conditions also extended to Mulele's use of the peasants as the mainstay of his revolution.

Personal life

Mulele was born in Isulu-Matende. He married Leonie Abo, a fellow fighter who spent five years in the underground rebel movement alongside guerrillas loyal to Mulele. In 1968, after her husband's assassination, she fled to Congo-Brazzaville where she has since lived. Abo has made a great effort to preserve the memory of her slain revolutionary husband, Pierre Mulele. The Belgian book Une Femme du Congo (A Congolese Woman), by Ludo Martens, tells Abo's life story.