A son of the long-time President Mobutu Sese Seko, he served in the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo under President Joseph Kabila from 2007 to 2011, initially as Minister of State for Agriculture and subsequently as Deputy Prime Minister for Basic Social Needs. Nzanga Mobutu is the eldest son of Mobutu Sese Seko by his second wife, Bobi Ladawa.
Nzanga studied in Belgium, France and Canada before returning to Congo in the mid-1990s.
He was dismissed from the government in March 2011 after a long crisis between himself and President Kabila. He then worked as an adviser to his father, but fled into exile when rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila captured Kinshasa in May 1997. He is most popular in the northwestern province of Équateur, whence his father hailed.
In the 2006 presidential election, he ran as a candidate and placed fourth, with about 4.8% of the vote.
Gizenga became Prime Minister in December 2006, and Mobutu was named Minister of State for Agriculture when Gizenga"s government was announced on February 5, 2007, ranking second in the government after Gizenga. When Gizenga was succeeded by Adolphe Muzito, Mobutu was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister for Basic Social Needs in Muzito"s government, which was named on October 26, 2008.
On 10 March 2011 he was dismissed from this position after a crisis that lasted for months between him and president Kabila. He ran for office at the 2011 presidential elections against the incumbent president
He is the leader of the Union of Mobutuist Democrats (UDEMO), a political party advocating the restoration of peace, national unity and territorial integrity. The coalition also involved the political party PALU of Antoine Gizenga.
