DRC: Lumumba's coffin exposed in his native village of Onalua

The coffin of Patrick de Lumumba in Tshumbe a few hours before reaching the native village of the Congolese national hero.

AFP - JUNIOR KANNAH

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

The relic of Patrice Emery Lumumba, his spirit too, finally rest on his native lands in Sankuru.

Since this Tuesday, June 22 in the afternoon, the coffin of one of the heroes of the independence of Congo is exposed in the middle of his village in Onalua.

An important step so that mourning can finally be done 61 years after his assassination.

The inhabitants came in large numbers to pay homage to him.

Account of this last voyage of the Lumumba icon.

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With our special correspondent,

Paulina Zidi

The main road in the small village of Onalua is completely cut off from traffic.

In the center, now stands the coffin of

Patrice Lumumba

.

Next to it, tents and chairs have been set up to accommodate anyone who wants to pay homage to him.

Some have come from far away

And some came from afar, from all over Sankuru province.

This is the case of Michel, very moved.

He explains to us that given his young age, he did not know Patrice Lumumba, but that he shares

his ideas, his ideal of society

.

He is also very touched to see

the family of the first Congolese Prime Minister

, his sons Roland and François, but especially the grandchildren.

For them, this visit to the village is a first and Yéma, one of the granddaughters tells us of her happiness to finally put an image on places she has heard a lot about: "

It looks like what I imagined

" , she tells us.

Tears in the eyes

Regularly, people advance towards the remains to meditate.

Some have tears in their eyes, others are smiling.

An atmosphere of mourning, it is true a little special, because sadness is mixed with a certain joy, that of finally celebrating the national hero to the sounds of drums and traditional songs.

The remains of Patrice #lumumba arrived in Lumumba-ville Onalua #RDC @RFI @RFIAfrique pic.twitter.com/PypV72O2hp

— Paulina Zidi (@paulinazidi) June 22, 2022

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To read also:

DRC: the remains of Patrice Lumumba return to the country

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