Arvid Mauritz Wester (10 June 1856 – 11 July 1914) was a Swedish soldier who was active in the service of the Belgians in the Congo.

[2] Wester and about ten other Swedish officers were hired by King Leopold II of Belgium to help found the Congo Free State.

[2] Captain Edmond Hanssens headed upstream from Léopoldville on 23 March 1884 with the three steamers and six Europeans: Wester, Louis-Gustave Amelot, Frederick Drees, Auguste-Joseph Guérin, Ernest Courtois and Nicholls.

On 4 June Wester rejoined Hanssens' column, which reached the Itimbiri and ascended that river for 75 kilometres (47 mi).

Hanssens relieved Adrian Binnie, who had commanded there since Henry Morton Stanley's visit in December 1883, and would return to the coast.

[5] He signed a treaty of friendship with Tippo-Tip's son, Moini Amani, stipulating that the Arabs would not pass to the north of the station.

Well before reaching the Aruwimi River he noticed that the local people had been terrorized by a recent attack by the Arabs against the Basokos.

Later that day Tippo-Tip himself visited Van Gèle and assured him he wanted cordial relations with the Europeans and would stop hunting for slaves.

[6] After the end of his term of service, Gleerup accepted an offer to travel east to Zanzibar under the protection of Tippu Tip.

Lieutenant Walter Deane was assigned to replace him, set out on the Stanley with forty Bangala soldiers and arrived at the Falls on 14 February 1886.