Zaire?

[Master Che]

What type of goverment was it? Were living condition's better when it was Zaire? And why did it collapse?

[Sankara1983]

For its entire existence, Zaire was run by CIA- and Belgian-backed right-wing dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who overthrew the elected prime minister Patrice Lumumba and later dismissed President Kasa Vubu. The state was heavily influenced by the military, from whose ranks Mobutu emerged.

Some credit Mobutu with keeping the country together (something Lumumba wanted to achieve by democratic means instead of a repressive dictatorship), but a number of insurgent groups had varying degrees of influence outside Kinshasa. In the early 1990s, the ailing Mobutu gave some more leeway to "reformist" politicians like Kengo wa Dondo and Étienne Tshisekedi. He was overthrown in 1997 by Laurent Kabila, who until then had a reputation of being somewhat of a maverick left-wing rebel leader. Kabila was heavily subsidized by the Rwandan government. He controlled a good chunk of the eastern part of the country and instituted some basic social reforms. One of his first acts after capturing Kinshasa was to restore the country's original name, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mobutu soon died of cancer in Moroccan exile.

Kabila failed to substantially change the political system or alleviate the country's crushing poverty, and was supposedly assassinated in 2001 and power passed onto his alleged son Joseph.

Mobutu's son returned a few years ago with intention to compete in elections (which have still not been held), but he didn't make an impression.