TSHUMBE: Coffin of slain Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba returns to his homeland on Wednesday for an emotionally charged tour and burial more than six decades after his murder.
A plane will carry the last remains of Lumumba – a tooth that pre-colonial power Belgium Kinshasa was handed over to his family on Monday from Brussels for a nine-day visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The coffin and the accompanying delegation would then fly to the central province of Sankuru, where the country’s first post-independence leader was born in the village of Onlua in 1925.
The relics will visit sites symbolically important to Lumumba’s life and will be laid to rest in a mausoleum in the capital Kinshasa on June 30, after three days of national mourning.
“His soul, which was imprisoned in Belgium, comes back here,” said Onlua Maurice Tasombo OmatukuA traditional chief and nephew of Lumba.
He was finally able to mourn his uncle, but knowing that he had been murdered in 1961, Omatuku stated that he felt emotionally broken.
– ‘The son is returning’ – Onlua, who since 2013 has been part of a commune named Lumumbaville in honor of the anti-colonial leader, was preparing to welcome her favorite son on Tuesday.
Fighting the oppressive heat, the men, under police supervision, cleared sand, tree branches and grass from a road leading to the neighboring city of Shumbe.
Palm leaves, used as symbols of mourning or celebration, were being placed on roadsides next to the Congolese flag.
A platform in the national colors of yellow, blue and red, tents and banners with faces of Lumumba were erected at the village square where the coffin was to arrive.
A local resident pointed to the dilapidated dilapidation of a large, unfinished concrete house, missing most of its roof.
“That’s a family conspiracy where lumumba was born,” he said.
Katherine Mabutshu said that she rejoiced at the idea that the “relics” of Lumba were finally returning to the land of their ancestors.
“I’m old, my feet hurt, but I’m happy because the son is returning,” said the woman, believed to have once known Lumba.
“I spoke to him before he left for Kisangani,” he said, “his political stronghold in northeastern Congo.”
Lumumba earned its place in history as an anti-colonial symbol when the DRC declared independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960, delivering a fiery speech against settler racism.
He and two close supporters, Maurice Mapolo and Joseph Okito, were executed on January 17, 1961, by separatists and Belgian mercenaries from the area south of Katanga before September.
– ‘Eligible Burial’ – Lumba’s body was dissolved in acid and never recovered.
Decades passed before human remains were discovered in Belgium, when a Belgian police officer who took part in Lumumba’s death claimed his actions in the media. Belgian authorities confiscated the tooth from the officer in 2016.
At a solemn ceremony in Brussels on Monday, a toothed coffin was placed in a coffin that Belgium handed over to the Congolese authorities in the presence of Lumumba’s family.
“Dad, we mourn your passing without praying for the funeral … Our duty as descendants was to offer a worthy burial,” said his daughter Juliana.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Cru again apologized for his country’s “moral responsibility” in Loomba’s death.
Two weeks ago, the King of Belgium Philip On his first visit to the DRC, he reiterated his “deeply sorry for the wounds” of the Belgian colonial regime.
Historians say that millions were killed, mutilated or killed by disease because they were forced to collect rubber under Belgian rule.
The land was plundered for its mineral wealth, timber and ivory.
A plane will carry the last remains of Lumumba – a tooth that pre-colonial power Belgium Kinshasa was handed over to his family on Monday from Brussels for a nine-day visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The coffin and the accompanying delegation would then fly to the central province of Sankuru, where the country’s first post-independence leader was born in the village of Onlua in 1925.
The relics will visit sites symbolically important to Lumumba’s life and will be laid to rest in a mausoleum in the capital Kinshasa on June 30, after three days of national mourning.
“His soul, which was imprisoned in Belgium, comes back here,” said Onlua Maurice Tasombo OmatukuA traditional chief and nephew of Lumba.
He was finally able to mourn his uncle, but knowing that he had been murdered in 1961, Omatuku stated that he felt emotionally broken.
– ‘The son is returning’ – Onlua, who since 2013 has been part of a commune named Lumumbaville in honor of the anti-colonial leader, was preparing to welcome her favorite son on Tuesday.
Fighting the oppressive heat, the men, under police supervision, cleared sand, tree branches and grass from a road leading to the neighboring city of Shumbe.
Palm leaves, used as symbols of mourning or celebration, were being placed on roadsides next to the Congolese flag.
A platform in the national colors of yellow, blue and red, tents and banners with faces of Lumumba were erected at the village square where the coffin was to arrive.
A local resident pointed to the dilapidated dilapidation of a large, unfinished concrete house, missing most of its roof.
“That’s a family conspiracy where lumumba was born,” he said.
Katherine Mabutshu said that she rejoiced at the idea that the “relics” of Lumba were finally returning to the land of their ancestors.
“I’m old, my feet hurt, but I’m happy because the son is returning,” said the woman, believed to have once known Lumba.
“I spoke to him before he left for Kisangani,” he said, “his political stronghold in northeastern Congo.”
Lumumba earned its place in history as an anti-colonial symbol when the DRC declared independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960, delivering a fiery speech against settler racism.
He and two close supporters, Maurice Mapolo and Joseph Okito, were executed on January 17, 1961, by separatists and Belgian mercenaries from the area south of Katanga before September.
– ‘Eligible Burial’ – Lumba’s body was dissolved in acid and never recovered.
Decades passed before human remains were discovered in Belgium, when a Belgian police officer who took part in Lumumba’s death claimed his actions in the media. Belgian authorities confiscated the tooth from the officer in 2016.
At a solemn ceremony in Brussels on Monday, a toothed coffin was placed in a coffin that Belgium handed over to the Congolese authorities in the presence of Lumumba’s family.
“Dad, we mourn your passing without praying for the funeral … Our duty as descendants was to offer a worthy burial,” said his daughter Juliana.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Cru again apologized for his country’s “moral responsibility” in Loomba’s death.
Two weeks ago, the King of Belgium Philip On his first visit to the DRC, he reiterated his “deeply sorry for the wounds” of the Belgian colonial regime.
Historians say that millions were killed, mutilated or killed by disease because they were forced to collect rubber under Belgian rule.
The land was plundered for its mineral wealth, timber and ivory.