A Belgian journalist of Congolese origin provided the following information in a letter faxed to the Research Directorate (attached).

Mobutu had eight children from his first marriage to Marie-Antoinette (deceased). Of these children, three are already deceased - Nywa Jean-Paul, Konga and Kongolu, alias Saddam Hussein. Among those still alive is Ngwali, who is living in Paris with her Ivorian husband, Serge baya Blé. Gombo (female) is living in Braine-La-Len, south of Brussels. Yongo and Yakua (female) are also living in Belgium in Rhode-St-Génèse in Waterloo. There is also Monda and his wife, Lola Mozagbo, but their place of residence has not been identified. Zemanga, the grandson of the former president and the son of Nyua Jean-Paul, is currently studying law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

From his second marriage, to Bobi Ladawa, Mobutu had four children. There is Nzanga and his wife, Cathy Bemba, who is the daughter of Bemba, the current minister of the Economy in Kabila's government, and the sister of Pierre Bemba, who is leading the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) in a rebellion against that government. Nzanga is officially residing in Morocco. Gyala (male) and his sister, Toku, are living in London in the United Kingdom, and Ndokula (male) is living in Brussels.

Mobutu's uncle Litho is deceased. However, his wife, Mama Marie Kota, who is also the sister of Bobi Ladawa (Mobutu's wife) and Mama Kossia (Bobi's twin and Mobutu's concubine), is living with four of her children - Mobayi, Yemo, Toto and Tedy Litho - near Brussels. Bundu Georges, the fifth child, is thought to be living in South Africa.

Kosia (Bobi Ladawa's twin and Mobutu's concubine) is said to be living in Morocco. The exact number of children she had by Mobutu is not known. However, two of these children are Yani and Semboney.

Mobutu's nephew Kanga Yani is living with his wife, Mireille, and their son, Opuijk, near Brussels. The former president's niece Lucie is living in a district of Brussels.

For further information on members of Mobutu's family, please consult Response to Information Request RDC32330.F of 21 July 1999.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of other sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Reference

Independent Belgian journalist of Congolese origin, Brussels. 17 December 1999. Letter faxed to the Research Directorate.

Document attached

Independent Belgian journalist of Congolese origin, Brussels. 17 December 1999. Letter faxed to the Research Directorate, pp 1-3.

Other sources consulted

Africa Confidential 1998-1999

ASADHO 1998 1999

L'Autre Afrique 1998-December 1999

IRB databases

Country Reports 1998 1999

Country file from the Resource Centre, DRC, 1992-1999

Info-Congo/Kinshasa 1998-November 1999

Jeune Afrique 1993-December 1999

NewAfrican 1994-October 1998-1999

Le nouvel Afrique-Asie 1997-October 1999

Keesing's Record of World Events 1991-1999

La Lettre hebdomadaire de la FIDH 1997-1999

LEXIS/NEXIS

World News Connection (WNC)

Internet sites including:

Africa Intelligence

Africa News Service

Amnesty International Online

Congo2000

Congonline

Human Rights Watch Online

FIDH

Missionary Service News Agency (MISNA)

Panafrican News Agency (PANAM)

ReliefWeb