The remains of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba were returned to his family and to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday, June 20, during a private ceremony organized for this purpose at the Egmont Palace in Brussels. .
This hero had been assassinated in his country on January 17, 1961. After the execution, Belgian police officers had been instructed to remove his body cut in acid. But one of them had been able to save a tooth. It is this organ, protected in a box, which was placed in the coffin.
In addition to the family, who thanked the Belgian and Congolese authorities, the ceremony recorded the presence of the Congolese Prime Ministers, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, and Belgian, Alexander De Croo.
“A man was assassinated for his political convictions, his words, his ideal. For the democrat that I am, it is indefensible, for the liberal that I am, it is unacceptable. And for the human that I am, it is odious”, declared, in his speech, De Croo who “reiterated the apologies of the Belgian government”.
He considered “not normal that the remains of one of the founding fathers of the Congolese nation were kept for six decades by Belgians”. The head of the Belgian government described the ceremony as “highly important for the Lumumba family, for Congo, for relations between Congo and Belgium and for the two peoples”.
Sama Lukonde, for his part, hailed the “national hero” in his speech. He said he came on behalf of the President of the Republic and the Congolese people to recover Lumumba’s remains for national mourning.
From now on, the date of June 20, 2022 “enters the annals of history. It is a whole continent, Africa, which celebrates the return of one of its worthy sons”, according to his words. The Congolese Prime Minister also paid a “strong tribute” to the two companions of Lumumba who were murdered with him.
After the ceremony, the body was taken to the DRC embassy, for its subsequent return to its country.
By OMA Newsletter N° 748 of 06/20/2022
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
