DRC: Jean Mayani, Lumumba's replacement in Parliament, remembers
Anonymous and dignitaries parade during the arrival of Patrick de Lumumba's coffin in Tshumbe in the DRC.
June 22, 2022. (Illustration).
AFP - JUNIOR KANNAH
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Jean Mayani was the replacement for Patrice Lumumba in the Parliament of the Eastern Province in 1960. He is alive.
At 89, he lives almost abandoned in the eastern suburbs of Kinshasa.
With the return of the tooth of Patrice Lumumba in the DRC, Jean Mayani hopes that the country will return to the ideas advocated by the fathers of the independence of the DRC.
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With our correspondent in Kinshasa,
Patient Ligodi
The cane is no longer enough.
Jean Mayani needs help to stand.
If he has partially lost his hearing, his memory is still intact.
He remembers, for example, the municipal and legislative elections of 1958. Lumumba, having opted for a seat at the national level, had to leave his provincial seat in Kisangani to his direct follower.
"
I who was second after him, I was able to become the first elected from the eastern province given the votes obtained in the eastern province
".
He also remembers the hard times he and other Lumumba companions experienced in the months and years following the assassination of the DRC's first prime minister.
"
After
Lumumba's death
, there were all the unfortunate people who wanted revenge under the guise of politics.
They came.
They tried to kill me”
.
During this attack, he lost 12 of his teeth.
The remains of Patrice #lumumba arrived in Lumumba-ville Onalua #RDC @RFI @RFIAfrique pic.twitter.com/PypV72O2hp
— Paulina Zidi (@paulinazidi) June 22, 2022
Advice to son Lumumba
Jean Mayani then had a career in territorial administration, observing, with a heavy heart, the descent into hell of the country for which he fought.
He remembers the advice he gave to
François Lumumba
, one of the sons of the hero of the independence of the DRC, when the latter wanted to stand in the legislative elections in 2006. "
The time of your father is not that of today.
Many things have changed.
People opted for something else.
To be elected, you need corruption
”.
In the meantime, to honor the memory of his friend, he hopes that his name will be on the guest list at the official tributes organized in memory of Lumumba.
► To read also: DRC, the remains of Patrice Lumumba return to the country
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