Large people marched from the Congolese Embassy to Lumumba Square in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday to pay honor to Congolese anti-colonial soldier Patrice Lumuba.
“We have a relic of our country’s hero. On a pan-African scale, we can call him a pan-Africanist. In an emotional tone, participant Kiso Kolo-Vira adds, “He has been restored to us, and today we are escorting him.” He’s returning home, and it’s going to be incredible. It was hard to avoid going.”
Belgium sent the Lumumba family the last remains of the deceased Congolese leader on Monday.
Many people from the Congolese diaspora visited the embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Belgium to sign the condolence book and pay their respects to Patrice Lumumba. “Our fathers supported Lumumba’s politics and beliefs, therefore we grew up with the Lumumba mentality, said Princesse Zikou dieka, a participant. Then, as nationalists, we maintain our Congolese and African identities, and we believe Lumumba is a capable mentor.”
Patrice Lumuba, along with anti-colonial friends Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, was hanged in 1961 at the age of 35. His body was dismembered and then dissolved with acid. However, a Belgian police officer retained two of his teeth as a memento of his heinous execution. Because no DNA test could be performed two years ago, the federal prosecutor’s office stated that there is no absolute confidence that the tooth being returned is Lumumba’s.
After Lumumba’s family filed a complaint, Belgian authorities recovered the tooth from the policeman’s daughter, Gerard Soete, in 2016.
The casket carrying what is thought to be Lumumba’s tooth will be flown back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it will be properly laid to rest at a memorial monument.
From the 27th to the 30th of June, the country will observe three days of “national mourning” to commemorate the country’s 62nd anniversary of independence.
Lumumba’s oldest son Francois filed a complaint in Belgium in 2011, accusing a dozen Belgian officials and diplomats of being responsible for his father’s death.
Only two of the targeted officials are still alive, despite the fact that the inquiry for “war crimes” is still ongoing.
In 2001, a Belgian parliamentary panel of inquiry determined that Belgium bore “moral responsibility” for the assassination, and a year later, the government sent “apologies” to the people.
Belgian officials “choose not to see, choose not to act” to halt the killing, according to De Croo, even if they did not intend it to happen.
Lumumba’s children were also welcomed by Belgium’s King Philippe, who visited the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this month to express his “deepest sorrow” for the colonial past.
Millions of people were killed, disfigured, or died of disease as a result of being forced to collect rubber under Belgian authority, according to historians. Minerals, timber, and ivory were also taken from the area.
