In Dakar or Ouagadougou, we salute "collective forgetfulness" and a "depollution of our imaginations". In some African cities, the dismantling of statues inherited from the slave or colonial past is viewed positively.
In Kinshasa, where the consequences of Belgian colonization are often mentioned, the statue of King Leopold II continues to overlook the Congo River.
The monument to the memory of the Belgian monarch, who made the Congo his personal property between 1885 and 1908, sits next to that of his successor, Albert I, and the founder of Léopoldville (current Kinshasa), the British explorer Henry Stanley .
>> See also: Statues of unbolted slavers: "We must not abolish the past but confront it"
The figures of this trio of colonial history are sheltered from the urban bustle behind the high gates of the presidential park of Mont-Ngaliema, a natural belvedere with panoramic views of the river between "Kin" and Brazzaville, capital of the current Congo.
But for the inhabitants of Kinshasa, their destruction "will not compensate for all the losses" suffered by the Congolese people. "The grandchildren will need this story," says a resident.
In Pretoria, the word "assassin" was painted on a statue of Paul Kruger. This Afrikaner had played a key role in imposing the power of the white minority on the black majority in South Africa.
With AFP
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