Who is Patrice Lumumba? In order to answer this question, you need to delve into the history of the Congo in the middle of the last century. Soon after the declaration of Congolese independence in 1960, a rebellion broke out in the army, marking the beginning of the crisis in the Congo. Patrice Lumumba appealed to the United States and the United Nations to help combat the threat. But they refused to help the Congo, and so Lumumba turned to the Soviet Union. This has led to an increase in controversy with President Joseph Kas-Wubu and Chief of General Staff Joseph-Desir Mobutu, as well as with the United States and Belgium.
Patrice Lumumba's life ended very tragically. He was imprisoned by state authorities led by Mobutu (his former supporter) and executed by execution under the command of the Katangan authorities. After his death, he was widely perceived as a martyr who fell in the name of the ideals of the pan-African movement.
Youth and career start
The biography of Patrice Lumumba began on July 2, 1925. He was born into the family of farmer Francois Tolenget Otetsime and his wife Julien Wamato Lomenga in Onnal, in the Catacombe region of Kasai province, Belgian Congo. He was a member of the Tetela ethnic group and was born with the name Élias Okit'Asombo. His original surname is translated as “heir of the damned” and comes from the words of the tetela okitá / okitɔ (“heir, successor”) and asombo (“damned or bewitched people who will die soon”). He had three siblings (Jan Clark, Emil Kalema and Louis Onem Pene Lumumba) and one half brother (Tolenga Jean). Being raised in a Catholic family, he was educated in a primary school for Protestants, in a Catholic missionary school and, finally, in a public school of post offices, where he graduated with honors from a one-year course of study. Lumumba was fluent in tetel, French, Lingala, Swahili and Tshiluba.
Going beyond the limits of his regular school and university studies, young Patrice Lumumba showed interest in the ideas of the Enlightenment by reading Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire. He also loved Moliere and Victor Hugo. He wrote poetry, and many of his works had an anti-imperialist theme. A brief biography of Patrice Lumumba could be expressed in a simple listing of the main events: study, work, coming to power and execution.
He worked in Leopoldville and Stanleyville as a mail clerk and as a beer seller. In 1951, he married Pauline Oganga. In 1955, Lumumba became the regional head of the Stanleyville churches and joined the Belgian Liberal Party, where he edited and distributed party literature. After a study tour to Belgium in 1956, he was arrested on charges of embezzlement from the post office. He was sentenced to a year in prison and had to pay a fine.
Leader of the Congolese nationalists
After his release on October 5, 1958, he took part in the creation of the National Congolese Movement Party (MNC) and quickly became the leader of the organization.
The MNC, unlike other Congolese parties, did not rely on a specific ethnic basis. This contributed to the creation of a platform that included independence, the gradual Africanization of government, state economic development and neutrality in foreign affairs. Lumumba himself was very popular due to his personal charisma, excellent oratory skills and ideological sophistication. This allowed him to gain greater political autonomy than his contemporaries, dependent on Belgium.
The country of Patrice Lumumba was on the verge of declaration of independence. He himself at that time was one of the delegates who represented the MNEs at the Pan-African Conference in Accra, Ghana, in December 1958. At this international conference organized by the President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, Lumumba further strengthened his pan-African beliefs. Nkrumah was very impressed with the intellect and abilities of Patrice Lumumba.
At the end of October 1959, Lumumba, as the head of the organization, was arrested for inciting an anti-colonial riot in Stanleyville. 30 people were killed that day. The young politician was sentenced to 69 months in prison. The start date of the trial, January 18, 1960, was the first day of the Congolese round-table conference in Brussels, and the future of Congo was finally determined at it.
Despite Lumumba’s imprisonment at the time, MNCs won a convincing majority in the December local elections in Congo. As a result of strong pressure from delegates who were dissatisfied with the trial of Lumumba, he was released and allowed to participate in the Brussels conference.
Congo Independence
The conference ended on January 27 with the Congo Declaration of Independence and set June 30, 1960 as the date of independence, combined with the first national elections in Congolese history that took place from May 11 to May 25, 1960. On them, the MNC received a majority of the votes. The homeland of Patrice Lumumba gained independence, and his party became ruling.
Six weeks before independence, Walter Ganshof van der Meersch was appointed Belgian Minister of African Affairs. He lived in Leopoldville, effectively becoming a Belgian resident in Congo, managing it together with Governor General Hendrik Cornelis.
Rise to power
The next day, Patrice Lumumba was appointed by the Belgians as a special informant, and he was instructed to consider the possibility of forming a government of national unity, which included politicians with a wide range of views. June 16 was the deadline for its formation. On the same day that Lumumba was appointed prime minister, a parliamentary opposition coalition was created. Initially, Lumumba was unable to establish contact with members of the opposition. In the end, several opposition leaders were delegated to meet with him, but their positions and views have not changed. On June 16, Lumumba announced his difficulties to the Belgian governor Ganshof, who extended the formation of the government and promised to act as an intermediary between the leader of the MNC and the opposition. However, as soon as he came into contact with the opposition leadership, he was impressed by their obstinacy and rejection of the figure of Lumumba. By evening, the Lumumba mission showed even less chance of success. Ganshoff believed that the role of informant in Adul and Kas-Wubu continues to increase, but is facing increasing pressure from Belgian and moderate Congolese advisers wishing to put an end to Lumumba's appointment.
Governing body
Independence Day and the three days that followed were declared a national holiday. The Congolese were intoxicated by celebrations taking place in relative peace and tranquility. Meanwhile, Lumumba’s office was seething with activity. Diverse groups of people - both Congolese and Europeans - did their work in a hurry. Some received specific instructions on behalf of Patrice Lumumba, although sometimes without direct permission from other branches of government. Numerous Congolese citizens came to Lumumba, complaining of various socio-economic problems. Lumumba, in turn, was mainly concerned about the large schedule of receptions and ceremonies.
A photo of Patrice Lumumba of that time recorded a characteristic thoughtfulness and tension on his face. On July 3, he announced a general amnesty for prisoners, which never happened. The next morning, he convened the Council of Ministers to discuss riots among the forces of the Public Group. Many soldiers hoped that independence would lead to immediate action and material benefits, but were disappointed at the slow pace of Lumumba's reforms. The ranking showed that the Congolese political class, especially the ministers in the new government, enriched themselves without improving the situation in the troops.
Many of the soldiers are also tired of maintaining order during elections and participating in independence celebrations. The ministers decided to create four committees to study and, as a result, reorganize the administration, the judiciary and the army, as well as adopt a new law for civil servants. Everyone should have paid particular attention to ending racial discrimination. Parliament has assembled to, for the first time after gaining independence, adopt its first official legislative acts by voting, increasing the salaries of its members to 500,000 Congolese francs. Lumumba, fearing that the consequences would be related to the budget, was one of the few who objected to the adoption of acts, calling this act of parliamentarians "fatal stupidity."
Attempted military rebellion
On the morning of July 5, General Emil Janssen, commander of the Public Forces, in response to the growing excitement among the Congolese soldiers, gathered all the troops on duty in Leopold II's camp. He demanded that the army maintain its discipline. That evening, the Congolese government fired a number of officers in protest against Janssen. The latter warned the Hardy camp reserve garrison, located 95 miles from Tisville. The officers tried to organize a convoy to send help to Leopold II's camp in order to restore order, but people in the camp rebelled and seized an armory. Similar crises were common during the reign of Patrice Lumumba.
On August 9, Lumumba declared a state of emergency throughout Congo. He then issued several controversial decrees, trying to strengthen his dominance in the country's political arena. The first decree outlawed all associations and associations that did not receive state approval. The second argued that the government had the right to prohibit any publication that contained material harmful to the government.
On August 11, the African Courier published an editorial stating that the Congolese did not want to “fall under the second type of slavery,” referring to the activities of Patrice Lumumba. The newspaper editor was arrested and stopped publishing the daily newspaper four days later. The press restrictions caused a wave of harsh criticism from the Belgian media. Lumumba also decided to nationalize all Belgian property in the country, creating the Congolese Congress on Press as a means of informing the opposition and promoting its own ideas. On August 16, Lumumba announced the formation of a military militia within six months, implying also the creation of military tribunals.
Fatal mistake
Lumumba immediately ordered the Congolese forces under Mobutu to crush the uprising in South Kasai, where the strategic railway lines would be needed for the Katanga campaign. The operation was successful, but soon the conflict turned into ethnic violence. The army was to blame for the massacres of civilians belonging to the Bast people. The people and politicians of South Kasai have personally blamed the crimes of the army on Prime Minister Lumumbu. Kasa-Wubu has publicly announced that only a federalist government can ensure peace and stability in the Congo by violating a weak political alliance that guarantees relative stability in a young African country. Entire nations rebelled against the once adored prime minister, and the Catholic Church openly criticized his government.
The death of Patrice Lumumba
On January 17, 1961, Lumumba was forcibly detained before flying to Elizabethville. Upon arrival, he and his supporters were arrested in the Brouwes house, where they were brutally beaten and tortured by the Katangans together with Belgian officers, while President Zombe and his cabinet decided what to do with him.
That same night, Lumumba was taken to an isolated place, where three rifle squads were assembled. The Belgian commission of inquiry found that the execution was carried out by the Katanga authorities. She also said that President Zombe and two other ministers were present, while four Belgian officers were under the command of the Katangan authorities. Lumumba, Mpolo and Okito were lined up in front of a tree and shot in the head with single shots. It is believed that the execution took place on January 17, 1961, between 21:40 and 21:43 (according to the Belgian report). The Belgians and their colleagues later wanted to get rid of the bodies and did this by digging and dissecting the corpses, then dissolving them in sulfuric acid, while the bones were crushed and scattered around the neighborhood.
Political Views
Lumumba did not support any single political or economic platform, be it capitalism or socialism. He was the first Congolese to formulate the Congo national mission, which contradicted traditional Belgian views on colonization, emphasizing the suffering of the indigenous population under European rule. He formulated the idea of Congolese national unity, regardless of the numerous ethnic groups inhabiting the state, proposed the basis for national identity, based on the replication of the ideas of colonial victimization, national dignity, humanity, strength and unity. This humanism also included the values of egalitarianism, social justice, freedom and the recognition of fundamental human rights.
Lumumba regarded the state as a positive source of social welfare and approved its intervention in the life of Congolese society, considering it necessary to ensure equality, justice and social harmony.
Personal life
The Patrice Lumumba family is actively involved in modern Congolese politics. Patrice Lumumba was married to Pauline Lumumba and had five children with her. Francois was the eldest of them, followed by Patrice Junior, Julien, Roland and Guy Patrice Lumumba. Francois was 10 years old when Patrice was killed. Before his imprisonment, Patrice arranged for his wife and children to move to Egypt.
Lumumba's youngest son, Guy Patrice, born six months after his father’s death, was an independent presidential candidate in the 2006 elections, but received less than 10% of the vote. The Patrice Lumumba family is one of the most famous families in the Congo.