Patrice Émery Lumumba (2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was an African anti-colonial leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped to win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only ten weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed in coup during the Congo Crisis. He was subsequently imprisoned and murdered under controversial circumstances.

Path to Prime Minister

Lumumba was born in Onalua in the Katakokombe region of the Kasai province of the Belgian Congo, a member of the Tetela ethnic group. Raised in a Catholic family as one of four sons, he was educated at a Protestant primary school, a Catholic missionary school, and finally the government post office training school, passing the one-year course with distinction.

He subsequently worked in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) and Stanleyville (now Kisangani) 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. After traveling on a three-week study tour in Belgium, he was arrested in 1955 on charges of embezzlement of post office funds. His two-year sentence was commuted to twelve months after it was confirmed by Belgian lawyer Jules Chrome that Lumumba had returned the funds, and he was released in July 1956. After his release, he helped to found the non-tribal Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) in 1958, later becoming the organization's president. Lumumba and his team represented the MNC at the All-African People's Conference in Accra, Ghana, in December 1958. At this international conference, hosted by influential Pan-African President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Lumumba further solidified his Pan-Africanist beliefs.

In late October 1959, Lumumba as leader of the MNC was again arrested for allegedly inciting an anti-colonial riot in Stanleyville where thirty people were killed, for which he was sentenced to six months in prison. The trial's start date of January 18, 1960, was also the first day of a round-table conference in Brussels to finalize the future of the Congo. Despite Lumumba's imprisonment at the time, the MNC won a convincing majority in the December local elections in the Congo.

As a result of pressure from delegates who were enraged at Lumumba's imprisonment, he was released and allowed to attend the Brussels conference. The conference culminated on January 27th with a declaration of Congolese independence setting June 30, 1960, as the independence date with national elections from May 11–25, 1960. Lumumba and the MNC won this election and the right to form a government, with the announcement on June 23, 1960 of 35-year-old Lumumba as Congo's first prime minister and Joseph Kasa-Vubu as its president. In accordance with the constitution, on June 24 the new government passed a vote of confidence and was ratified by the Congolese Chamber and Senate.

Independence Day was celebrated on June 30 in a ceremony attended by many dignitaries including King Baudouin and the foreign press, Patrice Lumumba delivered his famous independence speech after being officially excluded from the event programme, despite being the elected Congolese Prime Minister. In direct contrast to the paternalistic glorification of colonialism in the speech of King Baudouin, as well as the relatively harmless speech of President Kasa-Vubu, Lumumba's outspoken anti-colonial speech resonated with the crowd for its emotional appeal while simultaneously humiliating and alienating the King and his entourage. Lumumba was later harshly criticised for the inappropriate nature of this speech.

Actions as Prime Minister

A few days after gaining its independence, Lumumba made the fateful decision to raise the pay of all government employees except for the army. Late on July 5, this sparked a mutiny among soldiers (who were also rebelling against their officers who were mostly Belgians) at the Thysville military base. It quickly spread throughout the country, leading to a general breakdown in law and order. Lumumba was unable to regain control. Soon the country was overrun by gangs of soldiers and looters, causing a media sensation, particularly over Europeans fleeing the country.[5]

The province of Katanga declared independence under regional premier Moïse Tshombe on July 11 1960 with Belgian support. Despite the arrival of United Nations troops, unrest continued. Lumumba sought Soviet aid to forcefully subdue Katanga. Soviet troops were then used in an invasion, which failed due to poor intelligence and poor knowledge of local conditions. Lumumba now lost the support of his colleagues and President Kasa-Vubu.[6]

Deposed and arrested

In September, the President dismissed Lumumba from government. In retaliation, Lumumba illegally declared Kasa-Vubu deposed and won a vote of confidence in the Senate, while the newly appointed prime minister failed to gain parliament's confidence.

On September 14, a coup d’état organized by Colonel Joseph Mobutu and endorsed by the CIA incapacitated both Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu.[5] Lumumba was placed under house arrest at the prime minister's residence, although UN troops were positioned around the house to protect him. Nevertheless, Lumumba decided to rouse his supporters in Haut-Congo. Smuggled out of his residence at night, he escaped to Stanleyville, where he attempted to set up his own government and army[7].

Pursued by troops loyal to Mobutu he was finally captured in Port Francqui and arrested on December 1, 1960 and flown to Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) in handcuffs. He desperately appealed to local UN troops to save him, but he was no longer their responsibility. Mobutu said Lumumba would be tried for inciting the army to rebellion and other crimes. United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld made an appeal to Kasa-Vubu asking that Lumumba be treated according to due process of law. The USSR denounced Hammarskjöld and the Western powers as responsible for Lumumba's arrest and demanded his release.

The UN Security Council was called into session on December 7, 1960 to consider Soviet demands that the UN seek Lumumba's immediate release, the immediate restoration of Lumumba as head of the Congo government, the disarming of the forces of Mobutu, and the immediate evacuation of Belgians from the Congo. Hammarskjöld, answering Soviet attacks against his Congo operations, said that if the UN forces were withdrawn from the Congo "I fear everything will crumble."

The threat to the UN cause was intensified by the announcement of the withdrawal of their contingents by Yugoslavia, the United Arab Republic, Ceylon, Indonesia, Morocco, and Guinea. The Soviet pro-Lumumba resolution was defeated on December 14, 1960 by a vote of 8-2. On the same day, a Western resolution that would have given Hammarskjöld increased powers to deal with the Congo situation (and perhaps intervene on Lumumba's behalf) was vetoed by the Soviet Union.

Lumumba was sent first on December 3, to Thysville military barracks Camp Hardy, 150 km (about 100 miles) from Leopoldville. However, when security and disciplinary breaches threatened Lumamba's safety, it was decided that he should be transferred to the Katanga Province.

Death

Lumumba was forcibly restrained on the flight to Elizabethville (now Lubumbashi) on January 17, 1961 after attempting to incite the other passengers.[8] On arrival, he was conducted under arrest to Brouwez House and held there bound and gagged while President Tshombe and his cabinet decided what to do with him.

Later that night, Lumumba was driven to an isolated spot where three firing squads had been assembled. According to David Akerman, the firing squads were commanded by a Belgian, Captain Julien Gat, and another Belgian, Police Commissioner Verschurre, had overall command of the execution site.[9] The Belgian Commission has found that the execution was carried out by Katanga's authorities. It reported that President Tshombe and two other ministers were present with four Belgian officers under the command of Katangan authorities. Lumumba and two other comrades from the government, Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, were lined up against a tree and shot one at a time. The execution most likely took place on January 17, 1961 between 9:40PM and 9:43PM according to the Belgian report. Lumumba's corpse was buried nearby.

No statement was released until three weeks later despite rumours that Lumumba was dead. His death was formally announced on Katangese radio when it was alleged that he escaped and was killed by enraged villagers. Shortly afterwards, Belgian Police Commissioner Gerard Soete and his brother dug up Lumumba's corpse, cut it up with a hacksaw, and dissolved it in concentrated sulfuric acid.[10] Only some teeth and a fragment of skull survived the process, kept as souvenirs. In an interview on Belgian television in 1999, Soetecustomers displayed a bullet and two teeth that he claimed he had saved from Lumumba's body.[10]

After the announcement of Lumumba's death, street protests were organized in several European countries — in Belgrade, capital of Yugoslavia, protesters sacked the Belgian embassy and confronted the police, and in London a crowd marched from Trafalgar Square to the Belgian embassy, where a letter of protest was delivered and where protesters clashed with police.[11]

There is much speculation over any role that the Belgian and US governments played in the prime minister's murder. The Belgian Commission investigating Lumumba's assassination concluded that (1) Belgium wanted Lumumba arrested, (2) Belgium was not particularly concerned with Lumumba's physical well being, and (3) although informed of the danger to Lumumba's life, Belgium did not take any action to avert his death. But the report also specifically denied that Belgium ordered Lumumba's assassination [12]

Under its own 'Good Samaritan' laws, Belgium was legally culpable for failing to prevent the assassination from taking place and was also in breach of its obligation (under U.N. Resolution 290 of 1949) to refrain from acts or threats "aimed at impairing the freedom, independence or integrity of another state."[1]

It was revealed that U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had said "something [to CIA chief Allen Dulles] to the effect that Lumumba should be eliminated".[13] This was revealed by a declassified interview with then-US National Security Council minutekeeper Robert Johnson released in August 2000 from Senate intelligence committee's inquiry on covert action. The committee later found that while the CIA had conspired to kill Lumumba, it was not involved in the murder.[13]

Plots by U.S. and Belgium

The report of 2001 by the Belgian Commission mentions that there had been previous U.S. and Belgian plots to kill Lumumba. Among them was a Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored attempt to poison him, which may have come on orders from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.[14] CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb was a key person in this by devising a poison resembling toothpaste.[15][16][17][18] However, the plan is said to have failed because the local CIA Station Chief, Larry Devlin, had a conscience issue and did not go forward.[16][17][19]

In February 2002, the Belgian government apologized to the Congolese people, and admitted to a "moral responsibility" and "an irrefutable portion of responsibility in the events that led to the death of Lumumba." In July, documents released by the United States government revealed that while the CIA had been kept informed of Belgium's plans, it had no direct role in Lumumba's eventual death.[16]

This same disclosure showed that U.S. perception at the time was that Lumumba was a communist.[20] Eisenhower's reported call, at a meeting of his national security advisers, for Lumumba's elimination must have been brought on by this perception. Both Belgium and the US were clearly influenced in their unfavourable stance towards Lumumba by the Cold War.

He seemed to gravitate around the Soviet Union, although it was the only place he could find support in his country's effort to rid itself of colonial rule, not because he was a communist.[21] (Ironically, the US was the first country Lumumba requested help from).[22] — Lumumba, for his part, not only denied being a Communist, but said he found colonialism and Communism to be equally deplorable, and professed his personal preference for neutrality between the East and West.[23]customers

Legacy, Political

Lumumba bequeathed very few positive results from his term of office. He failed to promote development and alienated his colleagues and supporters alike. In addition he failed to stave off or quell a civil war that erupted within days of his appointment as prime minister. Instead he behaved impetuously and followed expedients rather than policies that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, including himself.[24]

In the 2006 Congolese elections

Nevertheless, the image of Patrice Lumumba continues to serve as an inspiration in contemporary Congolese politics. In the 2006 elections, several parties claimed to be motivated by his ideas,including the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), the political party initiated by the incumbent President Joseph Kabila.[25] Antoine Gizenga, who served as Lumumba's Deputy Prime Minister in the post-independence period, was a 2006 Presidential candidate under the Unified Lumumbist Party (Parti Lumumbiste Unifié (PALU))[26] and was named prime minister at the end of the year. Other political parties that directly utilize his name include the Mouvement National Congolais-Lumumba (MNC-L) and the Mouvement Lumumbiste (MLP).

Family and politics

Patrice Lumumba's family is actively involved in contemporary Congolese politics. Patrice Lumumba was married and had five children; François was the eldest followed by Patrice junior, Julienne, Roland and Guy-Patrice Lumumba. François Lumumba was 10 years old when Patrice died. Before his imprisonment, Patrice arranged for his wife and children to move into exile in Egypt, where François spent his childhood, then went to Hungary for education (he holds a doctorate in political economics). He returned to Congo in the 1992 to oppose Mobutu since when he has been the leader of the Mouvement National Congolais Lumumba (MNC-L), his father's original political party. [27]

Lumumba's youngest son, Patrice-Guy, born six months after his father's death, was an independent presidential candidate in the 2006 elections,[28] but received less than 1% of the vote.

On the DVD of the film Lumumba, the special features section includes an interview with Julienne in which she speaks of how her father knew that he was going to die for the cause, that he spoke of it frequently but did not anticipate the rule of Mobutu. She says that Lumumba had faith that his message would live on after his death.

Writings by Lumumba

• Congo, My Country, 1962, New York: Praeger (Books That Matter)

• Lumumba Speaks: The Speeches and Writings of Patrice Lumumba, 1958-1961 [Collection of Speeches, Little, Brown and Company, 1972] Translated by Helen R. Lane. Ed. Jean Van Lierde

Tributes

• In 1966 Patrice Lumumba's image was rehabilitated by the Mobutu regime and he was proclaimed a national hero and martyr in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By a presidential decree, the Brouwez House, site of Lumumba's brutal torture on the night of his murder, became a place of pilgrimage in the Congo.[29] Plans made to erect a spire in Lumumba's memory did not proceed but the anniversary of Lumumba's death was commemorated yearly until 1974, upon the unveiling of Mobutism.

• A major transportation artery in Kinshasa, the Lumumba Boulevard, is named in his honor. The boulevard goes past an interchange with a giant tower, the Tour de l'Echangeur (the main landmark of Kinshasa) in honor of the martyr prime minister. On the tower's plaza, the first Kabila regime erected a tall statue of Lumumba with a raised hand, greeting people coming from Kinshasa International Airport.

• In Bamako, Mali, Lumumba Square is a large central plaza with a life-size statue of Lumumba, a park with fountains, and a flag display. Around Lumumba Square are various businesses, embassies and Bamako's largest bank.

• Streets were also named after him in Haiti, Tanzania, Ghana, Budapest, Hungary (between 1961 and 1990); Belgrade, Serbia; Bata and Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; Tehran, Iran; Algiers, Algeria (Rue Patrice Lumumba);[30] Santiago de Cuba, Cuba (since 1960,customers formerly Avenida de Bélgica); _ód_, Poland; Kiev, Ukraine; Rabat, Morocco; Maputo, Mozambique; Leipzig, Germany; Lusaka, Zambia ("Lumumba Street").

• The Peoples' Friendship University of the USSR was renamed "Patrice Lumumba Peoples'customers Friendship University" in 1961, but it was later renamed "The Peoples' Friendship University of Russia" in the post-Soviet landscape in 1992.[31]

• In Belgrade, Serbia, "The Patris Lumumba Hall of Residence" at Belgrade University was built in 1961 and continues to carry Lumumba's name.[32]

• In Kampala, Uganda, "Lumumba Hall" of Residence at Makerere University continues to carry his name.

• "Lumumba" is a popular choice for children's names throughout Africa.[33]

• American stand-up comedian Patrice Oneal is named after Lumumba.

• Argentinian Reggae Band, was named "Lumumba".

• In 1964 Malcolm X labelled Patrice Lumumba, "the greatest black man who ever walked the African continent".k

Editor,

Please, allow me space in your widely read newspaper to extend my heartfelt sympathy to the family of the late  Abubacarr Sanyang, former marketing manager of the Daily Observer newspaper, and to the rest of his friends and loved ones. I received this sad news with great shock and dismay. I read the news through the net with tears rolling down from my eyes. I find it difficult to believe the news.

The late Sanyang was my real friend and co-worker. I felt so bad and cried a lot; but after all I had to accept and pray to the Great God, the All Knowing and Creator of all living, who knows why he took the life of Mr Sanyang at this age.

Indeed, the departed was a young man who was very much determined in life. I knew his kindness and generosity, especially towards the needy in our midst. Mr Sanyang never hesitated to do something good. He never waited or hid behind someone else to do a just cause, especially in speaking the truth. He contributed greatly in bringing the Daily Observer where it is today with his knowledge of marketing. Apart from giving advice to his juniors, he always stood for the truth, no matter what happened. He made sure that work went on as expected of both juniors and seniors. He saw everyone as a member of the same family.

Oh, Almighty God, grant this young man, Mr. AB Sanyang, a haven and help in the sustenance of the family he left behind. Sanyang or Abubacar as I used to call him, was a devoted and pious Muslim who prayed at all times, and showed fear of God in everything he did. He tried a lot during his short stay on this earth. His sudden and untimely death is indeed a great loss.

On a final note, May the Almighty Allah grant him eternal peace and may his soul rest in perfect peace.

Shorty Jammeh  Sweden

The manslaughter trial involving one Jawo Jallow who was accused of causing the death of his brother could no proceed recently at the Brikama Magistrates’ Court.

The case that was scheduled for hearing before Magistrate Pa Harry Jammeh could not proceed, despite the presence of the police prosecutor and the accused person, as the accused is yet to secure the service of a legal representation.

However, the court later tasked the state to provide the accused with a legal representation since the offence allegedly committed by the accused is punishable by life imprisonment.

It could be recalled that the accused Jawo Jallow confronted his late brother while they travelled to Casamance to fetch firewood alleging that his late brother was in love with his wife. A fight ensued between both brothers, which led to the death of the other.

The case was then adjourned until 23rd September 2008

M.J. and family of Brikama regret to announce the death of their friend

Mr J.J. Bakker (known as Dady Cool )

on the 16th of September 2008, in UK.

This sad news is extended to all friends in The Gambia and Aborad.

May his soul rest in peace.

The Banjul High Court yesterday upheld the death sentence imposed to Tabara Samba by the Kanfing Magistrates’ Court following her conviction for the offence of murder.

Tabara Samba following her conviction was sentenced to death by the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court but appealed against the conviction and sentence at the Banjul High Court.

In her judgement Justice Mabel Maame Agyemang, stated that the appellant was arraigned at the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court for murder. She added that the court, after listening to the ten prosecution witnesses, convicted and sentenced the appellant to death.

Justice Mabel Maame Agyemang further stated that appellant appealed against the Magistrates’ Court decision by filing on 24 grounds of appeal at the High Court. She said in the totality of the evidence, the court found that the Magistrates’ conviction and sentence was proper and in accordance with the law. Justice Agyemang therefore upheld the conviction and sentence by the trial Magistrate.

It will be recalled that Tabara Samba was on 7th March 2007 at Old Jashwang said to have poured hot oil on her late husband Ebrima Nyang which resulted in his death. She was subsequently arrested and arraigned at the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court charged with murder. She was later found guilty convicted and sentenced to death.