Patrice Lumumba

2022 - 6 - 21

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Image courtesy of "The Voice Online"

61 years later... Belgium finally returns Patrice Lumumba's tooth to ... (The Voice Online)

The tooth is the only remains of the Congolese independence icon after he was executed and had his body dissolved in acid in January 1961.

The height of our sorrow is that we know that our mother is not resting in peace. In the letter, she wrote: “If anthropologists say that the concern for burial and the funeral ritual are essential human characteristics, each year the DRC, Africa, and the world pay homage to Patrice Emery Lumumba as an unburied hero. The Belgian justice system announced in September 2020 that they had agreed to return the tooth to Mr Lumumba’s family and it was seized from Soete’s daughter. On December 23, 2014, she herself left us, a woman broken-hearted, not having been able to fulfil her duty as a widow. A UK government source has described suggestions of Britain’s involvement as “speculative.” “It is not normal that Belgium held onto the remains of one of the founding fathers of the Congolese nation for six decades,” said De Croo.

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Image courtesy of "The Wire"

Congo: How 1961 Patrice Lumumba's Assassination Shaped Politics (The Wire)

In the aftermath of the death of the Congo's first prime minister, students gravitated towards the political left, which led to the rise of a number of ...

It was an expression of their opposition to the regime and unfinished decolonisation of their university. Yet, it doesn’t mean that students aren’t looking critically at the relationship between Belgium and Congo. Students rose up in 2015 against then president Joseph Kabila’s attempt to change the constitution. By the end of the 1960s university students continued to oppose Mobutu’s increasingly dictatorial power. It paved the way ultimately to the nationalisation of universities. However, Mobutu’s uneven adherence to the ideal of Congolese nationalism alienated the students. But it also reverberated beyond university campuses, challenging the political elite’s refusal to continue the unfinished decolonisation of Congolese society and economy. Students denounced the continuous power of Belgian administrators and faculty at Congolese universities. The murder opened the eyes of many to the violence of neocolonialism. But, in the aftermath of Lumumba’s assassination in 1961, the student movement shifted. But as the anticolonial struggle was taking off, the Belgians revised their judgment and authorised the opening of two universities. Congolese only began accessing universities a few years before the end of the Belgian regime. Philippe declined to expand on his regrets, and only mentioned the colonial past, “our shared history,” in veiled terms.

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Image courtesy of "Hindustan Times"

Belgium returns gold tooth of Congo independence hero Patrice ... (Hindustan Times)

The only remnant of the murdered Congolese independence leader, a gold tooth, was returned to his family during a ceremony in Brussels.

"I would like, in the presence of his family, to present in my turn the apologies of the Belgian government," he said. The gold-crowned tooth was all that remained. - The only remnant of the murdered Congolese independence leader, a gold tooth, was returned to his family during a ceremony in Brussels. His 1961 murder is a reminder of Belgium's brutal colonial history.

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Image courtesy of "The Nation Newspaper"

15 things to know about Patrice Lumumba The Nation Newspaper (The Nation Newspaper)

Sixty-one years after Belgian authorities have finally returned a tooth belonging to freedom fighter, Patrice Lumumba, who was murdered gruesomely by ...

· The execution is thought to have taken place on 17 January 1961 between 21:40 and 21:43 (according to the Belgian report). The bodies were thrown into a shallow grave. · He was known for being a vocal, precocious young man, regularly pointing out the errors of his teachers before peers, often to their chagrin. Below are 15 things to know about assassinated Congolese independence hero, Patrice Lumumba.

Belgium hands over tooth to family of Congo independence hero (Euronews)

BRUSSELS – Belgium handed over a tooth, the only known remains of the murdered Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba, to his family during a ceremony ...

“It isn’t normal that Belgians held on to the remains of one of the founding fathers of the Congolese nation for six decades,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in a speech. De Croo said Belgian colonial rule was a dark page in Belgium’s history, echoing comments of the Belgian King Philippe in a visit to DRC earlier in June, adding African people still experienced racism in Belgium today. His body was never found.

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Image courtesy of "Business Hallmark"

Neocolonial atrocities: Belgium finally returns Lumumba's tooth... (Business Hallmark)

Following the visit of King Phillipe of Belgium to Democratic Republic of Congo,DRC, and in a contrite, remorseful manner, the Belgian authorities have sent ...

In1961, he was murdered by Western conspiracies involving secret agents of Western Powers, Congolese separatists and Belgian mercenaries in 1961. It was placed in a casket that will be taken to the embassy of the DRC. He was an beacon of hope for a new beginning in Africa and a symbol of the struggle against colonialism in Africa.

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Image courtesy of "NPR"

Belgium returned a single tooth to the Congo this week. Here's why (NPR)

Patrice Lumumba was the first democratically elected prime minister of the Congo, and was assassinated in a Belgian-supported coup. Can the return of his ...

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Image courtesy of "Vanguard"

What to know as Belgium returns Patrice Lumumba's tooth after ... (Vanguard)

The Belgian government has just returned a tooth of the Congolese African hero and freedom fighter, Patrice Lumumba to his family.

The gold-capped tooth, reports said, was handed in a light blue case to a group of family members at the Egmont Palace in Brussels on Monday morning and placed in a casket that will be taken to the embassy of the DRC. According to reports, the tooth was retrieved from a Belgian police commissioner, Gerard Soete, after admitting to being a party to the gruesome murder of Lumumba. The Belgian government has just returned a tooth of the Congolese African hero and freedom fighter, Patrice Lumumba to his family.

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Image courtesy of "Eyewitness News"

Remains of independence hero Lumumba return to DR Congo (Eyewitness News)

A plane will take Lumumba's last remains - a tooth that ex-colonial power Belgium handed over to his family on Monday - from Brussels to Kinshasa for a ...

Decades passed before human remains were discovered in Belgium, after a Belgian police officer who took part in Lumumba's death boasted about his actions in the media. In a solemn ceremony in Brussels on Monday, a casket containing the tooth was placed in a coffin that Belgium handed over to the Congolese authorities in the presence of Lumumba's family. A plane will take Lumumba's last remains - a tooth that ex-colonial power Belgium handed over to his family on Monday - from Brussels to Kinshasa for a nine-day trip around the Democratic Republic of Congo. A plane will take Lumumba's last remains - a tooth that ex-colonial power Belgium handed over to his family on Monday - from Brussels to Kinshasa for a nine-day trip around the Democratic Republic of Congo. A podium in the national colours of yellow, blue and red, tents and banners bearing Lumumba's face were erected in the village square where the coffin was set to arrive. The remains will visit sites symbolically important to Lumumba's life and be laid to rest in a mausoleum in the capital Kinshasa on June 30, following three days of national mourning.

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Image courtesy of "Quartz Africa"

Belgium is returning Patrice Lumumba's tooth 60 years after his ... (Quartz Africa)

A tooth. A state funeral. An apology. About 61 years after the assassination of DRC's freedom hero Patrice Lumumba under the backing of the country's ...

As horrific as Lumumba’s murder and the desecration of his corpse was, they were not isolated incidents during the oppressive years of colonial rule in Africa. It was only in 1985 that the remains of King Gungunhana, the last emperor of the Gaza empire in Mozambique were returned to his people. The Belgian government seized the tooth in 2016 after Lumumba’s family filed a law suit. After that, the coffin will be taken to the site of his assassination—Lubumbashi in the southern province of Haut-Katanga on June 26. On June 22, the casket and the entire delegation left Kinshasa to Lumumbaville—named after Lumumba—in the central province of Sankuru where he was born in 1925. The groundbreaking 2018 report by Senegalese economist Felwine Sarr and French historian Bénédicte Savoy calls for the restitution of Africa’s looted assets—including human remains that are still on display in European museums. He took a decision to make the bodies disappear once and for all.

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Image courtesy of "cgtn.com"

Remains of independence hero Patrice Lumumba return to DR Congo (cgtn.com)

A plane will take Lumumba's last remains — a tooth that ex-colonial power Belgium handed over to his family on Monday — from Brussels to Kinshasa for a nine-day ...

The remains will visit sites symbolically important to Lumumba’s life and be laid to rest in a mausoleum in the capital Kinshasa on June 30, following three days of national mourning. A plane will take Lumumba’s last remains — a tooth that ex-colonial power Belgium handed over to his family on Monday — from Brussels to Kinshasa for a nine-day trip around the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Image courtesy of "Peoples Dispatch"

Belgium returns remains of assassinated Congolese leader Patrice ... (Peoples Dispatch)

Belgium has repatriated the sole surviving remains of Patrice Lumumba - a gold crowned tooth- to his family. An independence leader and the first prime ...

In a horrifying admission in 1999, Gerard Soete not only confirmed his role in the assassination, but added that he had stolen and kept two of Lumumba’s teeth and fingers “as a type of hunting trophy.” He claimed to only have a gold-crowned tooth in his possession at the time. “The horrific manner in which Lumumba’s body was dismembered begs the question of how the Belgians saw the Congolese and their land. Lumumba was also determined to use the country’s natural resources, which had been subject to decades of colonial and imperialist exploitation, for the benefit of the Congolese people. The Western powers proceeded to establish a dictatorship in Congo led by Mobuto Sese Seko, who remained in power for the next 30 years. Sure enough, just months after assuming office, Lumumba was overthrown in a coup, arrested, tortured and then brutally killed on January 17, 1961 by counter-revolutionary forces backed by Belgium and the US. He was 35 years old at the time. He was a beloved icon across Africa for his role in the fight for liberation against colonialism. Lumumba’s tooth was displayed and put in an empty coffin, then a circus ensued with a procession of “honor” and speeches. Lumumba was killed alongside his comrades Joseph Okito and Maurice Mpolo by a firing squad. Over six decades after his assassination, Belgium has repatriated the mortal remains of Congolese independence leader and Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo presented Lumumba’s gold-crowned tooth to his family at a ceremony held at the Egmont Palace in Brussels on Monday, June 20. On that day, Belgium took no responsibility for the killing of Patrice Lumumba. No action was taken to launch a criminal investigation into how the tooth was removed from his body and how it ended up in Belgium. No call for justice!” At the ceremony in Brussels on Monday, Prime Minister De Croo stated that Belgium bore “moral responsibility” for the killing. His son, Roland, stated last week that this would mean that his family would be able to “finish their mourning”.

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Image courtesy of "RFI"

Remains of independence hero Patrice Lumumba return to Congo (RFI)

The remains of the first post-independence Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba arrived Wednesday in the Democratic Republic Congo, more than six decades after ...

It is the start of a nine-day trip around the country, with stops in sites symbolically important to Lumumba's life. His remains were officially returned on Monday at a ceremony in Brussels, where a box containing the tooth was placed in a coffin, which was handed over to Congolese authorities in the presence of Lumumba's family. A plane transporting a coffin containing the last remains - a gold-crowned tooth - landed in Kinshasa on Wednesday, in transit to the central province of Sankuru, where Lumumba was born, in the village of Onalua, in 1925

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