Suffering from amoebic dysentery, fainting spells and an inflamed kidney, Moise Tshombe, 43, was being treated last week in the Clinique de Passy in Paris. At the same time, his once potent and economically healthy domain of Katanga was going under the knife back in the Congo. Last year the Congo central government cut North Katanga out of Tshombe's former domain, leaving him only the southern part. Now the government subdivided the area further, into the provinces of East Katanga and Lualaba (see map).
The purpose of the gerrymander is to remove any power base to which Tshombe might return....