In a dignified ceremony in the Belgian capital, Brussels, the only known remains of Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba were returned to his family. The gold-crowned tooth of the executed leader was taken by a Belgian policeman who had been charged with disposing of the body of Congo’s first prime minister.
Lumumba’s daughter, Juliana, gave an emotional speech at the ceremony: “Father, my brothers and I, as well as our children, and your great-grandchildren, have tried through this address, to find the words to bid you farewell 61 years after your disappearance, but we have to admit that nothing can express what we are feeling today.
“Father, my brothers and I, as well as our children, and your great-grandchildren, have tried through this address, to find the words to bid you farewell 61 years after your disappearance, but we have to admit that nothing can express what we are feeling today.
“We can only wish that wherever you are, you can be proud of your children, your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren. Father, welcome back to the country, thank you.
Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo also spoke: “It is not normal that Belgians held onto the remains of one of the founding fathers of the Congolese nation for six decades. It is not normal that for six decades the remains of one of the founding fathers of the Congolese nation were kept in obscure circumstances which were never really elucidated but which in light of what we know today, do not make us proud.
“It is not normal that Belgians held onto the remains of one of the founding fathers of the Congolese nation for six decades. It is not normal that for six decades the remains of one of the founding fathers of the Congolese nation were kept in obscure circumstances which were never really elucidated but which in light of what we know today, do not make us proud.”
The Belgian authorities have handed the tooth belonging to Congo independence leader Patrice Lumumba to his family in a ceremony in Brussels. It is the only part of him that is thought to still exist after he was executed and then his body dissolved in acid in 1961.
Belgium was the former colonial power and an official inquiry said that some members of its government at the time “were morally responsible for circumstances leading to the death”.
The man overseeing the destruction of the body, Belgian policeman Gerard Soete took the tooth as a “kind of hunting trophy”, he later said.
Mausoleum built for Lumumba’s tooth
The final touches are being put to a newly built mausoleum in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, that will hold the gold-crowned tooth of Lumumba, who served as prime minister at independence in 1960 before he was shot dead by a firing squad in 1961.
The mausoleum was designed by a Chinese architect. The Chinese ambassador has tweeted a video of Mr Lumumba’s statue being mounted at the mausoleum.
Source: bbc.com
