Gbadolite or Gbado-Lite () is the capital of Nord-Ubangi Province in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. The town is located south of the

Ubangi River The Ubangi River (; ; ; ), also spelled Oubangui, is a river in Central Africa, and the largest right-bank tributary of the Congo River. It begins at the confluence of the Mbomou River, Mbomou (mean annual discharge 1,350 m3/s) and Uele Rivers (mea ...

at the border to the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

and northeast of the national capital

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

. Gbadolite was the ancestral home and residence of Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, later self-styled as

Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga ( ; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997), often shortened to Mobutu Sese Seko or Mobutu and also known by his initials MSS, was a Congolese politician and military officer ...

where airport, colleges, malls, supermarkets and libraries were built by the President in a program of modernization. Gbadolite is where Mobutu led the summit that would produce the Gbadolite Declaration, a short lived ceasefire in the Angolan Civil War, in 1989.

History

Mobutu built Gbadolite into a luxurious town often nicknamed "

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

of the Jungle". He built a

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

on the nearby

in Mobayi Mbongo, an international airport,

Gbadolite Airport Gbadolite Airport () is an airport serving Gbadolite, the capital of the Nord-Ubangi, Nord-Ubangi Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The airport is at the village of Moanda, southwest of Gbadolite. The Gbadolite non-directional b ...

, which could accommodate a

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

, and three large

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

s. As a result, the people of the town had no trouble finding jobs. During Mobutu's regime, Gbadolite also had companies such as CDIA Zaire for farming productions, SOZAGEC for road construction, and SAFRICAS for house construction. The town had a

general hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

with high tech facilities, supermarkets and malls, which were destroyed in 1997. Gbadolite had also College Presidentiel, a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

famous for its academic excellence and administered by Jesuit Fathers to whom Mobutu gave the school. This school had a chemistry lab, physics lab, computer lab, Olympic game facilities, and band instruments of all kinds. The town was also famous for its Chapelle Marie la Misericorde, a luxurious church in which Mobutu buried his first wife, Mama Mobutu. Two palaces were built outside Gbadolite at Kawele. One was an elaborate complex of Chinese

pagoda A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist, but some ...

s, while the other was a modern mansion. Both were used as residences for

Mobutu Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga ( ; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997), often shortened to Mobutu Sese Seko or Mobutu and also known by his initials MSS, was a Congolese politician and military officer ...

and guests. The three-story palace in Gbadolite was used primarily for public functions. Mobutu also built a nuclear bunker that could house more than 500 people and was the largest in Africa; this was the only nuclear bunker in Central Africa. The bunker was connected to the Ubangui River by a secret tunnel, giving access to the military harbour at the village of N'dangi. When Laurent Kabila successfully led a rebellion and ousted Mobutu in 1997, Gbadolite was raided, and most of what was in the palaces was looted. The palaces are now being overrun by vegetation. In 1998, the

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n backed MLC ( Mouvement de Libération du Congo) rebel group, led by Jean-Pierre Bemba, captured Gbadolite from Kabila's government and it became the MLC's headquarters.

Gallery

File:Gbadolite mobutu palace site.jpg, Site of the former Mobutu palace (ransacked) File:Gbadolite.jpg, Soldiers belonging to opposition forces in Gbadolite File:Gbado-Lite airport reception hall.jpg, Gbadolite Airport

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{New DRC provincial capitals Ubangi River Cities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

History

Gallery

See also

References

Bibliography

External links