“Without dignity there is no liberty, without justice there is no dignity, and without independence there are no free men” - Patrice Lumumba
(Patrice Lumumba)
Patrice Lumumba was born on July 2nd, 1925 Katakokombe, Belgian Congo. Lumumba worked as a postal clerk and as a travelling beer salesman. In 1951 he married Pauline Opangu. In 1955 Lumumba became regional head of the Cercles of Stanleyville and joined the Liberal Party of Belgium, where he worked on editing and distributing party literature. While in Belgium he was arrested in 1955 on charges of embezzlement. He was released in 1956. In 1958 he helped found the broad based MNC. Also in 1958 Lumumba and his team represented the MNC at the All-African Peoples' Conference in Accra, Ghana.
(Lumumba (Left) with Kwame Nkrumah (Right))
In 1959 Lumumba was arrested for inciting an anti colonial riot in Kisangani where thirty people were killed. In 1960 Lumumba became the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s 1st prime minister.
(Lumumba in 1960)
Lumumba made the fateful decision to raise the pay of all government employees except for the army. They then rebelled in protest. The rebellions quickly spread throughout the country, leading to a general breakdown in law and order. UN troops were brought into the country. Lumumba sought Soviet aid in the form of arms, food, medical supplies, trucks, and planes. Lumumba's decisive actions to turn to the Soviet Union alarmed western countries such as the USA. The USA saw Patrice Lumumba as a communist and the CIA began a plot to assassinate him. Lumumba was then dismissed from government by the DRC’s president.
(Lumumba (Middle) with DRC’s President Kasa-Vubu (Left))
Lumumba immediately protested the legality of the President's actions. The country was torn by two political groups claiming legal power over the country. A coup d'état organised by Colonel Joseph Mobutu incapacitated both Lumumba and President Kasa-Vubu. Lumumba was placed under house arrest at the Prime Minister's residence, with UN troops positioned around the house. He escaped to Stanleyville, where his intention apparently was to set up his own government and army. He was caught a few months later and flown to Léopoldville in ropes, not handcuffs.
(Lumumba captured)
The USSR demanded for Lumumba to be released. In 1961 Lumumba was sent to Elizabethville where he was conducted under arrest to Brouwez House and was brutally beaten and tortured by Katangan and Belgian officers.
(Lumumba in custody)
Lumumba and two ministers from his newly formed independent government were lined up against a tree. On January 17th, 1961 Patrice Lumumba was killed by a firing squad consisting of Belgian, CIA, and Katangan officers in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was 35 years old.
(A requiem mass for Lumumba)
Today is his 92nd birthday and we would all like to say happy birthday and rest in peace Patrice Lumumba.
Videos of Patrice Lumumba
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGdf7wX-E7g “Lumumba, mort du prophete - Independance Day.mov”
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRPYtkQon10 “Lumumba Official Film Trailer”
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