Slain Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba’s only surviving remains, a single tooth, on Monday arrived in Kinshasa, where it is due to be laid to rest later this week.
The nationalist politician became an anti-colonial icon when he delivered a fiery speech against racism on June 30, 1960, when his native central African country proclaimed independence from Belgium.
However, Lumumba, the country’s first post-independence prime minister, was overthrown that September.
Photo: AFP
Separatists from the southern region of Katanga and Belgian mercenaries executed him and two close supporters in January 1961.
His body was dissolved in acid after he was killed, but a Belgian police officer kept the tooth as a trophy. Belgian authorities in 2016 seized the relic from the man’s daughter.
On Monday last week, Belgium finally returned the tooth to Lumumba’s family members at a ceremony in Brussels.
Lumumba’s remains were then transported to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they toured the country, including the southeast where he was slain.
On Monday, his tooth arrived in the capital for the final leg of the tour, in a coffin draped in the Congolese flag.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi received the remains at Kinshasa International Airport, where he bowed before the coffin.
Lumumba’s tooth is due to be laid to rest in a ceremony tomorrow — the 62nd anniversary of independence from Belgium and his historic speech.
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