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Laurent Kabila

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World Leader

The Resume

    (November 27, 1939-January 18, 2001)
    Born in Moba, Zaire
    Formed the People's Revolutionary Party (1967)
    Created a secessionist state in South Kivu province, Zaire
    Led the First Congo War against President Mobutu Sese Seko (1996-97)
    President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1997-2001)
    Assassinated by his bodyguard during a coup attempt

Why he might be annoying:

    Che Guevara briefly fought alongside him before concluding, 'All signs are that he is too addicted to drink and women.'
    In running South Kivu, he specialized in extortion and mineral smuggling.
    After overthrowing Mobutu, his regime was marked by the same authoritarianism, corruption, human rights abuses and personality cult.
    He blocked a UN investigation into the massacre of Rwandan refugees during his rise to power.
    Within a year of the governments of Uganda and Rwanda helping to put him in power, he had alienated them so badly that they turned on him, starting the Second Congo War.
    'The Economist,' describing the investigation into his assassination, commented 'Some 50 million people had a motive.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    Guevara said that of all the people he met in the Congo, Kabila was the only one with the 'genuine qualities of a mass leader.'
    Much like Idi Amin, his jocular exterior made people underestimate him.
    The plot to assassinate him was code named 'Operation Mbongo,' the Swahili word for 'buffalo,' in reference to his corpulence. (It's one thing to kill the guy, but to mock his weight? That's adding insult to injury.)

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 30 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 30 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 25 Votes: 48.00% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 32 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 58 Votes: 75.86% Annoying