Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Belgian Congo became an independent country in 1960, named Republic of the Congo. By 1963, the country was organised into 21 provinces (informally called "provincettes") plus the capital city of Léopoldville, similar to the original 22 districts under colonial rule. In 1966, the 21 "provincettes" were grouped into eight provinces, and the capital city was renamed Kinshasa.
James Kabarebe
During the First Congo War, Kabarebe was the commanding officer of a Rwandan-led army that crossed into the Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) to defeat the ex-FAR and Interahamwe, Hutu militia groups that had committed the Rwandan genocide and were engaged in cross-border attacks on Rwanda. This war eventually spread across Zaire. As chief military strategist in Laurent-Désiré Kabila's rebel Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (ADFL), Kabarebe helped engineer the capture of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 17, 1997, and the defeat of Mobutu Sese Seko. At the end of this mission, he was appointed head of Congolese Army by Kabila. However, around 27 July 1998, Kabila dismissed him from the post. Kabila then appointed General Célestin Kifwa, a Congolese who had previously served in Angola.