On January 17, 1961, armed Congolese men led by Joseph Désiré Mobutu, who later changed his name to Mobutu Sese Seko, reportedly with the aid of the Belgian government, killed the DRC’s Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba.
Lumumba was executed alongside his two associates, Joseph Okito and Maurice Mpolo, after they were taken by plane to Katanga.
Before Lumumba’s death, on September 5, 1960, Joseph Kasavubu, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), dismissed Lumumba from government, a decision Lumumba fiercely rejected.
He argued that his dismissal was unconstitutional, asserting that only the Congolese Parliament had the authority to remove him. In retaliation, Lumumba announced Kasavubu’s dismissal as president, creating a constitutional stalemate where two governments were claiming power.
Lumumba rallied his supporters, particularly in Stanleyville, and attempted to maintain his position as prime minister.
Patrice Lumumba Assassinated
Patrice Lumumba, who was the leader of the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) and a pan-Africanist and nationalist, believed in a strong, centralized Congolese state free from Western neocolonial influence.
On the other hand, Joseph Kasavubu, head of the Alliance des Bakongo (ABAKO) party, represented regional and ethnic interests—particularly those of the Bakongo people—and favored a federal system that would grant more autonomy to provinces. He had a more moderate approach that leaned toward the West.
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After Lumumba’s reluctance to relinquish power, a military coup led by Congolese Colonel Joseph Mobutu occurred on September 14, 1960, completely ousting Lumumba from power.
Lumumba was placed under house arrest in Léopoldville but managed to escape to his stronghold in Stanleyville, only to be intercepted by Mobutu’s forces in December.
Belgian Government Returns Lumumba’s Tooth
Upon his capture, Lumumba was returned to Léopoldville. On December 2, 1960, he was publicly paraded in a military truck, bound and beaten, in front of journalists and onlookers.
During this time, Mobutu’s soldiers subjected him to further humiliation, forcing him to eat a copy of one of his speeches that criticized Belgian colonialism and asserted Congolese sovereignty. Lumumba was later executed alongside his two aides.
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Initially, their bodies were thrown into shallow graves, but they were later dug up, hacked into pieces, and their remains dissolved in acid.
Years after Lumumba’s assassination, his gold-crowned tooth which was taken by the Belgian government after his demise, was returned to his family and the DRC in 2022, 61 years after his death. Lumumba was symbolically reburied in a state funeral in Kinshasa on June 30, 2022. 30, 2022.
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