Background
Patrice Hémery Lumumba was born on July 2, 1925, in the village of Onalua in the province of Kasai, Congo, in the Batetela tribe.
Patrice Hémery Lumumba was born on July 2, 1925, in the village of Onalua in the province of Kasai, Congo, in the Batetela tribe.
Lumumba completed his primary studies in four years and went on to Tshumbe Sainte Marie Secondary School for his secondary education.
For reasons unknown—some suggest his father could no longer afford school fees—Lumumba left school at age 18, after three years and with no diploma.
Lumumba went in search of work, first 150 miles away from home to Kindu, a mining town, then to Kalima, where he worked as a nursing assistant.
Lumumba was dazzled by the cosmopolitan and European areas of the big city—its wide boulevards, lush parks, swimming pools, skyscrapers, and luxurious villas.
Lumumba spent his time reading and with Congolese youth of his age who had also come from rural villages and had been educated in westernized mission schools.
They called themselves “évolués. ”
Became Part of the “Évolué” Community
In 1947 Lumumba—because he was fluent in Congolese languages—got a job as a postal worker in the capital city of Leopoldville (now Kinshasa), nearly 1, 000 miles down the Congo River, but was transferred back to Stanleyville in 1950.
He volunteered at the local library and helped organize the first postal-workers’ union.
Lumumba’s days began at two in the morning, when he would read for a few hours before taking a bath at five and breakfasting on coffee with no sugar.
In the early 1950's, Lumumba began expressing himself in editorials and poems he wrote for La Voix du Congolese (Voice of the Congo) and La Croix du Congo, two “évolué” publications.
Through these writings, he became known as one of “only a dozen Congolese in a country of thirteen million who dared to express himself, ” according to Historic World Leaders. In 1952 after mounting pressure from the évolués, the colonial government announced that qualified natives would be granted a registration card which would entitle them the same privileges as Europeans, theoretically.
Lumumba applied and passed the required tests, but was denied on the grounds of “immaturity. ”
He appealed in 1954 and was among the first to receive the card.
The next year, Lumumba was among a group of Congolese granted an audience with reformist Belgian King Baudouin, who was touring Congo. Lumumba was the only one in the group to answer the king’s questions, and the king drew Lumumba aside to discuss the future of Congo as Baudouin’s white dignitaries looked on, ignored.
e was chosen to represent the Congolese in Belgium to discuss political reform. When he returned home to Stanleyville, Lumumba was arrested for stealing about 2, 500 francs from his employer, the post office.
He had openly “borrowed” the money, he said, and had left a signed receipt declaring his intention to repay.
Lumumba maintained his innocence throughout, but was found guilty and sentenced to two years in jail, and served 11 months.
Bent on independence for Congo, but discouraged by what had happened in Stanleyville, Lumumba went to work as a salesman for the Belgian Polar Beer company in the capital city of Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) in 1957.
During that time, significant political changes were taking place across Africa, with Ghana being the first black African colony to gain independence as a nation.
The Mau Mau revolt had been averted in neighboring Kenya and the prospect of independence was looking like it could become reality for several French and British colonies.
Lumumba emerged as a founder of the National Congolese Movement (MNC).
The group was formed in anticipation of the 1958 visit of a Belgian delegation sent to Congo to examine the political situation there and suggest plans for the country’s future.
From this, over a dozen political groups arose in addition to the MNC, demanding independence for Congo.
The most significant of these, ABAKO, had been elected to power in Leopoldville, with Joseph Kasavubu as mayor.
Another party later appeared, called Confederation des Associations du Ratanga (CONAKAT), and led by Moise Tshombe.
Lumumba and Kasavubu planned to attend the Pan-African People’s Conference that year to strategize all Africa to independence.
Lumumba gave an impassioned speech before the 600 delegates, citing injustices of the past and the Universal Declaration of Rights of Man and the United Nation’s Charter, and arguing for an immediate end to colonialism. He declared colonialism near its end, and made it clear that Europe’s future with African nations depended on support in Africa’s independence, not continued imperialism.
Meanwhile, freely elected ABAKO and Kasavubu were removed from Leopoldville by Belgian authorities.
Lumumba campaigned for Kasavubu’s release and drummed up support for the MNC throughout the colony.
In April of 1959 the MNC led a meeting of Congolese political parties to organize and strengthen and to plan a provisional government, with a deadline set for January 1, 1961.
He was imprisoned again in 1959 for incitement to riot, but was released to attend a conference in Brussels in 1960 to discuss Congolese independence.
The 137 seats in the National Assembly were split between the PSA with 13 seats, ABAKO with 12, CONAKAT with 8, and MNC with 33, and the rest went to over a dozen smaller parties.
Lumumba tried in vain to unify with Tshombe’s CONAKAT, as did Kasavubu.
When the Congo became independent, on June 30, 1960, Lumumba, who sought a strong central government, became premier and Joseph Kasavubu, who sought a federal system with provincial autonomy, became chief of state.
Within days of the victory, the country was in chaos.
Congolese army mutinies led to Belgian military intervention.
Lumumba reacted by cutting diplomatic ties with Belgium.
On July 11, the mineral-rich province of Katanga seceded from Congo, led by Tshombe, who barred Lumumba and Kasavubu from entering the province.
Under the advice of U. S. President Dwight Eisenhower, Lumumba invited United Nations peacekeeping troops to land in the country. When the UN refused to restore Katanga, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev sent planes, weapons, and advisors to aid Lumumba, which drew the attention and confirmed “the worst fears” of the American government under Eisenhower, according to journalist Bill Berkeley of the New York Times.
As Lumumba tried to prevent inner turmoil from tearing his country apart at the seams, his enemies seemed to multiply.
In September of 1960 army commander Joseph Mobutu arrested and ousted both Kasavubu and Lumumba and took power of Congo.
For accepting Soviet aid during the height of the Cold War, Belgians and Americans accused Lumumba of being communist.
Still, even out of office, Lumumba remained under the scrutiny of Western spies for his ties to the Soviet Union.
A few days later, a CIA scientist, Sidney Gottlieb, arrived Congo carrying a vial of poison intended to kill Lumumba.
Gottlieb never got his chance, and the poison was dumped in the Congo River.
Lumumba managed to escape Mobutu and tried to join his followers, but was recaptured.
In December of 1960, Lumumba was arrested by Congolese authorities and Belgian officials engineered his transfer to his enemies in Katanga, the breakaway province still under Belgian control.
He had already been badly beaten and was bleeding when he arrived in Katanga on January 17, 1961, escorted by Belgian soldiers.
After Lumumba and two of his aides were murdered, the bodies were cut up with a hacksaw by Belgian Police Commissioner Gerard Soete and his brother and dissolved in sulfuric acid, to destroy the evidence, according to Whitelaw’s article in U. S. News & World Report.
The region never recovered and remains unstable and is a war ground for at least five neighboring countries.
A 1975 U. S. Senate investigation led by the late Frank Church (D-Idaho) found there was “a reasonable inference” that Eisenhower authorized Lumumba’s assassination, but the committee stopped short of a conclusive finding.
According to journalist George Lardner Jr. in the Washington Post, an August of 1960 meeting of Eisenhower with the National Security Council lends to suspicions regarding U. S. involvement.
Though the meeting notes themselves are inconclusive—attesting to the wisdom of Eisenhower’s no-direct-quotations for meeting reports.
The meeting’s notetaker, Robert H. Johnson, told the Post that he distinctly recalled Eisenhower turning to CIA Director Dulles and perfectly audible to everyone at the meeting, saying “something to the effect that Lumumba should be eliminated. ”
Eisenhower said “something—I can no longer recall the words—that came across to me as an order for the assassination of Lumumba. ”
In his research for The Assassination of Lumumba, Ludo de Witte found a Belgian official who help organize Lumumba’s transfer to Katanga who said that he kept CIA station chief Lawrence Devlin fully informed of the plan.
“The Americans were informed of the transfer because they actively discussed this thing for weeks, ” de Witte told U. S. News & World Report.
Lumumba’s legend has inspired scores of books, articles, art, and film.
("Lumumba's earlier standpoint is that of a 'moderate' nat...)
Quotations:
“Down with imperialism.
Down with colonialism.
Down with racism and tribalism.
Long live the Congolese nation.
Long live independent Africa. ”
”We are not communist, Catholics or socialist.
We are African Nationalist. We retain the right to be friends with whoever we like in accordance with the principal of political neutrality. ”
“I prefer to die with my head unbowed, my faith unshakable, and with profound trust in the destiny of my country, ” Lumumba wrote to his wife from prison.
In 1951 Lumumba, no fan of arranged marriages, married 15-year-old Pauline Opangu, an arrangement set up by his father. Pauline could not read, write, or speak French, but Lumumba became “completely captivated”by her “elfin charm, ” according to Historic World Leaders. The two had one son, Patrice.