Patrice Lumumba’s Only Remaining Body Part Returned to the DRC

Patrice Lumumba’s Only Remaining Body Part Returned to the DRC 

Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister and hero of the independent Democratic Republic of Congo, had his remains laid to rest in the capital city of Kinshasa on Thursday, June 30th.

This date carries significance as it is the DRC’s 62nd independence anniversary. The event was attended by hundreds of people, waving flags below a large photo of Lumumba that was framed by white flowers. 

“Finally, the Congolese people can have the honor of offering a burial to their illustrious prime minister,” President Félix Tshisekedi said. “We are ending [the] mourning we started 61 years ago.” 

“Your return home, the honors you are receiving here are a page of the history you continue to write,” said one of his granddaughters in a letter to Lumumba she read at the funeral. “With you, today, Africa is writing its own history.” 

The only remaining part of Lumumba’s body was a gold-capped tooth that had been in the possession of Belgian police officer Gerard Soete. Lumumba was allegedly assassinated by secessionists and Belgian mercenaries.

According to reports, Lumumba, along with two comrades in arms, was captured, tortured, and eventually executed by a firing squad.

It is alleged that after his execution, his body was cut into pieces and dissolved in acid or burnt. The group of executioners, including officer Gerard Soete, decided to keep his teeth as a souvenir.

It was revealed during a documentary that Soete was in possession of Lumumba’s tooth, which was then confiscated by Belgian authorities. 

The tooth was handed to Lumumba’s family by the Belgian government at an event at Egmont Palace in Brussels on Monday, June 20th.

The tooth was in a blue container which was then placed in a coffin at the DRC embassy as part of the process that would see the return of Lumumba’s remains to his homeland. 

Lumumba was a staunch anti-colonialist who believed that the people of the DRC should be united and enjoy the fruits of their country as a single nation rather than being split amongst tribal lines.

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He angered the Belgians when he spoke out against their colonial exploits as well as seemingly looking to forge a relationship with the Soviet Union.

It is believed that these are some of the reasons why he was assassinated. Belgium had, in previous years, taken “moral responsibility” for the assassination of Lumumba, and this was further emphasized by the Prime Minister, Alexander de Croo.

“This is a painful and disagreeable truth, but must be spoken,” said De Croo, the Prime Minister of Belgium. “A man was murdered for his political convictions, his words, his ideals.”  

“This moral responsibility of the Belgian government, we have recognized it and I repeat it again on this official day of farewell of Belgium to Patrice Emery Lumumba.

I would like here, in the presence of his family, to present in my turn the apologies of the Belgian government for the way in which it weighed at the time on the decision to put an end to the days of the first Prime Minister of the former Belgian colony,” said De Croo.