In an address to the nation, punctuated with side-swipes at Western governments who had supported Mobutu and were now questioning his own democratic credentials, he made clear he would bring democratic change to former Zaire -- on his own terms.
We are not in a hurry. This crumbling and shattered state must be organised so that the Congolese people can hold elections, he said, naming April 1999 as the date for presidential and parliamentary elections.
Be assured that the timetable will be respected, he said, adding that no foreign interference would change it.
Kabila, whose forces marched into the capital on May 17 after a seven-month civil war, swore the oath of office in front of the head of the supreme court and a crowd of tens of thousands in Kinshasa's main sports stadium.
Across town, outside the home of veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi up to 2,000 opposition militants called for Kabila to stand down, accusing him of acting like a dictator.
It's up to the people to make Kabila go, Tshisekedi told them. If the people want to end dictatorship it is up to them and not me.
Kabila, who won the support of guest presidents from Uganda, Rwanda, Angola, Burundi and Zambia for his stand on democracy, accused unnamed foreign powers of defaming his administration to destabilise it and keep control of the mineral-rich country.
As a first step toward elections, he said a constituent council would be set up to draft a new constitution that would be put to an elected constituent assembly and finally to the people in a referendum in December 1998.
Many in the crowd at the stadium were catching their first glimpse of the man who now controls their destiny. Kabila kept out of the public eye after arriving in Kinshasa on May 20.
Kabila's soldiers were out in force in the Martyrs Stadium, previously called the Kamanyola stadium after Mobutu's most famous victory -- against an earlier revolt.
Earlier, organisers publicly warned hundreds of students calling for democracy and payment of grants that any further disruption of the ceremony would provoke a firm response and they alone would bear responsibility for the consequences.
One official, speaking over the public address system, also blamed members of Mobutu's defeated army for the disruption and said they had been apprehended in the crowd.
As Kabila arrived there was a rumble of discontent in some sections of the crowd, who asked in Lingala, a local language, where Tshisekedi was.
The government declared Thursday a public holiday in the city and state radio urged the population to turn out in force at the Chinese-built stadium. It holds upwards of 80,000 people and was at least half-full.
Kabila's Alliance has banned political activity and public demonstrations, citing the need to preserve public order.
Wednesday he decreed himself sweeping powers to run the country until the adoption of the promised transitional constitution. Earlier in the day, his soldiers broke up the third opposition protest in under a week.
Wednesday's 15-article decree, broadcast on state radio and television, said individual liberties would be guaranteed subject to respect of the law, public order and morals.
The government conducts the policies of the nation as defined by the president, the decree added.
Mobutu ruled for over three decades, during which rampant corruption drained what is potentially one of Africa's richest nations. Foreign and domestic pressure forced him to abandon his near absolute powers in 1990 for a democratic transition but implementation dragged.
Kabila rejected that whole process out of hand.
Several thousand supporters of Tshisekedi, a veteran Mobutu foe, marched Wednesday, denouncing the presence in Kinshasa of Rwandans among Kabila's forces and seeking power-sharing.
Tshisekedi enjoys support in the capital's poor districts. His Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) has called a march for Friday. Kabila supporters plan a rival march.
Opposition activists marched in Kinshasa last Friday and Saturday before the ban. Soldiers also broke up those marches.
May 29, 1997
Source: Newswire