It took sixty-one years since Patrice Lumumba’s death in acrimonious circumstances for what remained of his remains (a tooth) to be returned to his family and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by former colonial power Belgium with profound apologies over what happened.
Of all his remains, the tooth had been kept all these years by one of several Belgian police officers tasked with obliterating all traces of the post-independence national hero.
The tooth returned by Belgium has the value of a colonial-era “relic” and should allow the Congolese to establish a place dedicated to the memory of their former Prime Minister, who was tortured and shot after he was toppled in 1961.
“I would like to thank you for the legal steps you have taken because, without these steps, we would not be where we are today, it has allowed the justice of our country to move forward,” said Frederic Van Leeuw, the Belgian federal prosecutor.
An official private ceremony was held on Monday in the Belgian capital to hand over the tooth.
On this occasion, Lumumba’s children received a bright blue box containing the tooth of their father, assassinated in Katanga 61 years ago this year.
One of the sons took hold of the box, without speaking.
The remains were then placed in a dark wooden coffin which was taken to the DRC embassy, the first step in the return of Lumumba’s remains to Congolese soil.
Present at the ceremony, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo renewed his country’s “apology” for the responsibility of the leadership of the former colonial power in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba.
Referring to the ongoing judicial procedure for “war crimes,” after a complaint filed in 2011 by Lumumba’s family to clarify the circumstances of his assassination, Frederic Van Leeuw added: “I am obviously committed with the investigating judge to continue to try to move forward”.
But it remains a fight, he added.
The restitution should allow relatives to complete their mourning of the late prime minister and the Congolese government to erect a memorial bearing his name.
The memorial is under construction in Kinshasa, and will straddle a major road where a statue of the national hero already stands.
ODL/cgd/lb/as/APA