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Subject: Patrice Emery Lumumba
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Patrice Emery =
Lumumba
Patrice Emery =
Lumumba
![](3D"http://www.africawithin.com/clarke/lumumba.jpg")
Historical Biography =
*
Patrice Emery Lumumba
b.=20
July 2, 1925, Onalua, Belgian Congo [now Congo (Kinshasa)]
d. January =
1961,=20
Katanga province
African nationalist leader, the first prime =
minister of the=20
Democratic Republic of the Congo (June-September 1960). Forced out of =
office=20
during a political crisis, he was assassinated a short time =
later.
Lumumba was born in the village of Onalua in Kasai =
province,=20
Belgian Congo. He was a member of the small Batetela tribe, a fact that =
was to=20
become significant in his later political life. His two principal =
rivals, Moise=20
Tshombe, who led the breakaway of the Katanga province, and Joseph =
Kasavubu, who=20
later became the nation's president, both came from large, powerful =
tribes from=20
which they derived their major support, giving their political movements =
a=20
regional character. In contrast, Lumumba's movement emphasized its =
all-Congolese=20
nature.
After attending a Protestant mission school, =
Lumumba went to=20
work in Kindu-Port-Empain, where he became active in the club of the =
=E9volu=E9s=20
(educated Africans). He began to write essays and poems for Congolese =
journals.=20
Lumumba next moved to L=E9opoldville (now Kinshasa) to become a postal =
clerk and=20
went on to become an accountant in the post office in Stanleyville (now=20
Kisangani). There he continued to contribute to the Congolese =
press.
In 1955 Lumumba became regional president of a =
purely=20
Congolese trade union of government employees that was not affiliated, =
as were=20
other unions, to either of the two Belgian trade-union federations =
(socialist=20
and Roman Catholic). He also became active in the Belgian Liberal Party =
in the=20
Congo. Although conservative in many ways, the party was not linked to =
either of=20
the trade-union federations, which were hostile to it. In 1956 Lumumba =
was=20
invited with others to make a study tour of Belgium under the auspices =
of the=20
Minister of Colonies. On his return he was arrested on a charge of =
embezzlement=20
from the post office. He was convicted and condemned one year later, =
after=20
various reductions of sentence, to 12 months' imprisonment and a=20
fine.
When Lumumba got out of prison, he grew even more =
active in=20
politics. In October 1958 he founded the Congolese National Movement =
(Mouvement=20
National Congolais; MNC), the first nationwide Congolese political =
party. In=20
December he attended the first All-African People's Conference in Accra, =
Ghana,=20
where he met nationalists from across the African continent and was made =
a=20
member of the permanent organization set up by the conference. His =
outlook and=20
terminology, inspired by pan-African goals, now took on the tenor of =
militant=20
nationalism.
In 1959 the Belgian government announced a program =
intended=20
to lead in five years to independence, starting with local elections in =
December=20
1959. The nationalists regarded this program as a scheme to install =
puppets=20
before independence and announced a boycott of the elections. The =
Belgian=20
authorities responded with repression. On October 30 there was a clash =
in=20
Stanleyville that resulted in 30 deaths. Lumumba was imprisoned on a =
charge of=20
inciting to riot.
The MNC decided to shift tactics, entered the =
elections, and=20
won a sweeping victory in Stanleyville (90 percent of the votes). In =
January=20
1960 the Belgian government convened a Round Table Conference in =
Brussels of all=20
Congolese parties to discuss political change, but the MNC refused to=20
participate without Lumumba. Lumumba was thereupon released from prison =
and=20
flown to Brussels. The conference agreed on a date for independence, =
June 30,=20
with national elections in May. Although there was a multiplicity of =
parties,=20
the MNC came out far ahead in the elections, and Lumumba emerged as the =
leading=20
nationalist politician of the Congo. Maneuvers to prevent his assumption =
of=20
authority failed, and he was asked to form the first government, which =
he=20
succeeded in doing on June 23, 1960.
A few days after independence, some units of the =
army=20
rebelled, largely because of objections to their Belgian commander. In =
the=20
confusion, the mineral-rich province of Katanga proclaimed secession. =
Belgium=20
sent in troops, ostensibly to protect Belgian nationals in the disorder. =
But the=20
Belgian troops landed principally in Katanga, where they sustained the=20
secessionist regime of Moise Tshombe.
The Congo appealed to the United Nations to expel =
the=20
Belgians and help them restore internal order. As prime minister, =
Lumumba did=20
what little he could to redress the situation. His army was an uncertain =
instrument of power, his civilian administration untrained and untried; =
the=20
United Nations forces (whose presence he had requested) were =
condescending and=20
assertive, and the political alliances underlying his regime very shaky. =
The=20
Belgian troops did not evacuate, and the Katanga secession =
continued.
Since the United Nations forces refused to help =
suppress the=20
Katangese revolt, Lumumba appealed to the Soviet Union for planes to =
assist in=20
transporting his troops to Katanga. He asked the independent African =
states to=20
meet in L=E9opoldville in August to unite their efforts behind him. His =
moves=20
alarmed many, particularly the Western powers and the supporters of =
President=20
Kasavubu, who pursued a moderate course in the coalition government and =
favoured=20
some local autonomy in the provinces.
On September 5 President Kasavubu dismissed =
Lumumba. The=20
legalities of the move were immediately contested by Lumumba. There were =
thus=20
two groups now claiming to be the legal central government. On September =
14=20
power was seized by the Congolese army leader Colonel Joseph Mobutu =
(president=20
of Zaire as Mobutu Sese Seko), who later reached a working agreement =
with=20
Kasavubu. In October the General Assembly of the United Nations =
recognized the=20
credentials of Kasavubu's government. The independent African states =
split=20
sharply over the issue.
In November Lumumba sought to travel from =
Leopoldville,=20
where the United Nations had provided him with provisory protection, to=20
Stanleyville, where his supporters had control. With the active =
complicity of=20
foreign intelligence sources, Joseph Mobutu sent his soldiers after =
Lumumba. He=20
was caught after several days of pursuit and spent three months in =
prison, while=20
his adversaries were trying in vain to consolidate their power. Finally, =
aware=20
that an imprisoned Lumumba was more dangerous than a dead Prime =
Minister, he was=20
delivered on January 17, 1961, to the Katanga secessionist regime, where he was executed the same night of his arrival, =
along=20
with his comrades Mpolo and Okito. His death caused a national scandal=20
throughout the world, and, retrospectively, Mobutu proclaimed him a =
"national=20
hero."
The reasons that Lumumba provoked such intense =
emotion are=20
not immediately evident. His viewpoint was not exceptional. He was for a =
unitary=20
Congo and against division of the country along tribal or regional =
lines. Like=20
many other African leaders, he supported pan-Africanism and the =
liberation of=20
colonial territories. He proclaimed his regime one of "positive =
neutralism,"=20
which he defined as a return to African values and rejection of any =
imported=20
ideology, including that of the Soviet Union.
Lumumba was, however, a man of strong character =
who intended=20
to pursue his policies, regardless of the enemies he made within his =
country or=20
abroad. The Congo, furthermore, was a key area in terms of the =
geopolitics of=20
Africa, and because of its wealth, its size, and its contiguity to=20
white-dominated southern Africa, Lumumba's opponents had reason to fear =
the=20
consequences of a radical or radicalized Congo regime. Moreover, in the =
context=20
of the Cold War, the Soviet Union's support for Lumumba appeared at the =
time as=20
a threat to many in the West.
[Edited from =
Encyclopedia=20
Britannica
with additional paragraph in italics from filmmaker Raoul=20
Peck]
[ Home ] =
[ Up ]=20
[ Historical Biography ] [ Independence Day June 30, 1960 ]=
=20
[ Lumumba's Last Letter ] =
[ New Data on Murder of Lumumba&nb=
sp;]=20
[ Who Killed Lumumba? ] =
[ Dawn in the Heart of Africa =
;]=20
[ Weep, Beloved Black Brother ] =
[ Patrice Lumumba Photo Gallery ]=20
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