 The first organized Congolese troops , known as the Force Publique , were created in 1888 when King Leopold II of Belgium , who held the Congo Free State as his private property , ordered his Secretary of the Interior to create military and police forces for the state . In 1908 , under international pressure , Leopold ceded administration of the colony to the government of Belgium as the Belgian Congo . It remained under the command of a Belgian officer corps through to the independence of the colony in 1960 . The Force Publique saw combat in Cameroun , and successfully invaded and conquered areas of German East Africa , notably present day Rwanda , during World War I. Elements of the Force Publique were also used to form Belgian colonial units that fought in the East African Campaign during World War II . 
