Patrice Lumumba: 61 years after his death, Belgium returns his remains to the family

Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba greets the crowd as he leaves the Palais de la Culture in Léopoldville on August 27, 1960. AP

Text by: Paulina Zidi Follow

2 mins

On January 17, 1961, Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Emery Lumumba was assassinated in Katanga with two fellow fighters Joseph Okito and Maurice Mpolo.

Only one tooth was found in Belgium years later.

And it is this "relic" that will be handed over to his family during a ceremony at the Edgemont Palace in Brussels, this Monday, June 20, 2022.

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From our special correspondent in Brussels

,

" 

 ", in these few words we can feel the emotion of Roland Lumumba, one of the sons of the assassinated former Congolese Prime Minister.

The end of a long fight that will have lasted more than 60 years to finally be able to bury and pay homage with dignity to the father, to the politician, but also to the one who still embodies Congolese independence today.

For a long time, the family and the country thought that there was nothing left of the great man.

His body as well as that of two companions in misfortune, Joseph Okito and Maurice Mpolo, having been dissolved in acid after their death.

But years later, in 2016,

in the affairs of one of the Belgian officers, Gérard Soete, responsible for removing all traces of the national hero.

It is then authenticated as being that of Patrice Lumumba.

Indeed, a few years earlier, Gérard Soete had boasted, in front of a television crew, of having brought back with him a " 

 " of this night of horror.

How did Belgian justice get their hands on this tooth?

Explanations from our special correspondent in Brussels

Pierre Firtion

It is this tooth that the Belgian justice must give this Monday to his family

during a ceremony in two stages at the Egmont Palace.

Kept in a box, it will be placed in a coffin before a speech by the head of the Belgian government, Alexander De Croo.

An expected statement whose words will necessarily be weighed as they will carry a symbol.

Then the body will go to the DRC embassy in Brussels where for its return to Congolese soil it will be welcomed by Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde.

President Tshisekedi having given up on a trip while the country is experiencing a serious security crisis in the East.

The population will then have 24 hours to pay their respects.

After Belgium, the remains of Patrice Lumumba will fly to the DRC on Tuesday evening.

The delegation will then trace the course of history.

First step in his native village, Onalua become Lumumba-ville, in Sankuru.

Then it will be Kinsangani, place of the emergence of his political conscience where he notably founded his party, the Congolese National Movement, falling within a Pan-Africanist logic.

And finally, the places of his martyrdom in Shilatembo, near Lubumbashi, in Katanga.

For Belgian MP Kalvin Soiresse Njall, the delivery of the remains of Patrice Lumumba is historic even if it comes too late

Pierre Firtion

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