Patrice Lumumba’s tooth, returned to his family by Belgium during an official ceremony, will leave Brussels on the evening of June 21 for Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The remains of Patrice Lumumba, the first Congolese Prime Minister assassinated in January 1961, will tour the country before being buried on June 30, 2022. His great-nephew Jean-Pierre Lumumba, an anti-corruption activist in exile in France, returned to the symbol of this restitution after the ceremony.
franceinfo Africa: how was this intimate ceremony which you attended with the members of your family present at the Palais d’Egmont on June 20, 2022?
Jean-Pierre Lumumba: This ceremony took place in an emotionally charged atmosphere. I saw tears in the eyes of all my family. It refers to years of problems, exile and great hardship.
What can you remember from this ceremony, from this day when the remains of Patrice Lumumba’s remains were returned to you?
This is the beginning of a great revolution to bring justice to all victims of freedom and democracy in our country. The fate of Patrice Lumumba illustrates the omerta around many crimes committed in our country. Today, it is necessary to use these moments to be able to work to build a just, equitable and secure State which will bring peace and prosperity to the Congolese.
The King of the Belgians did not apologize to the Congolese people during his recent trip to the DRC. But Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo clearly did so during this official restitution. How important are these excuses?
This does not erase the entire justice process but it is quite normal today, in relation to this duty of memory, that we can speak very clearly about apologies. The Congo deserves justice to be able to cut off this whole cycle of impunity that we have been experiencing for several years. People lost their lives before independence and people continue to die today. Patrice Lumumba, one of the outstanding figures of the victims of the Congo and the expression of the cycle of impunity, will be able to rest at home. I believe it is a signal for justice to take hold because there will be no harmony between peoples if there is no justice. Patrice Lumumba lost his life in tragic circumstances because he fought for social justice and to defend freedoms.
Do you make a direct link between this colonial past and this impunity that continues in the DRC?
The Congo began its existence with a cycle of impunity. This situation must be remedied very quickly and this will only happen through justice, in all its forms. The Congo needs it and it is through justice that a nation rises.
You recover after decades of battle the remains of your great-uncle and we see that everything he fought for does not seem to have made it possible to change things in the DRC plagued by violence and corruption. Don’t you tell yourself that his sacrifice, the suffering of your family were in vain?
We don’t regret it. I who speak to you, I continue with several other friends to be part of a generation which believes that freedom is won through struggle. All the great nations, and especially the Congo which has a vocation to be, have been built in this way. These are stages through which we must accept to pass. We know that it is the generations after us who will manage to benefit from what our generation and previous generations have made as sacrifices. And we must continue to inculcate this sense of sacrifice. We are a blessed country but we also have to do some work on our side. For years, this dramatization of political life, this irresponsibility have also characterized us and others have taken advantage of our mistakes. But if we work to correct them, no nation will be able to harm the Congo any longer.
You, the Lumumba, are aware of this heritage. Can the same be said of Congolese political leaders?
It’s not up to us to judge, but the facts are there. The results we see in the management of this country leave no doubt about the shortcomings of the political authorities. It is unfortunate for the Congo that its political leaders are not aware of our vocation to be a great country and a great nation.