List of heads of state of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

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This is the list of the Heads of State of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) since independence in 1960. The current head of state is President Joseph Kabila, since 26 January 2001.

Heads of State

Tenure	Incumbent	Affiliation	Notes
Republic of the Congo
(République du Congo)
1 July 1960 to 1 August 1964	Joseph Kasavubu, President‎	ABAKO
31 March 1961 to 5 August 1961	Antoine Gizenga, Head of State	MNC (L)	Rebel government at Stanleyville
Democratic Republic of the Congo
(République Democratique du Congo)
1 August 1964 to 24 November 1965	Joseph Kasavubu, President‎	ABAKO	Deposed
24 November 1965 to 20 May 1967	Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, President‎	Mil
20 May 1967 to 27 October 1971	Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, President‎	MPR
Republic of Zaire
(République du Zaire)
27 October 1971 to 10 January 1972	Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, President‎	MPR	Changed name to Mobutu Sese Seko
10 January 1972 to 16 May 1997	Mobutu Sese Seko, President‎	MPR	Deposed at the end of the First Congo War
Democratic Republic of the Congo
(République Democratique du Congo)
16 May 1997 to 29 May 1997	Laurent-Désiré Kabila, Acting Head of State‎	ADFL
29 May 1997 to 16 January 2001	Laurent-Désiré Kabila, President	ADFL	Assassinated
17 January 2001 to 26 January 2001	Joseph Kabila, Interim President	ADFL
26 January 2001 to Present	Joseph Kabila, President	ADFL/PPRD