honourablesaka
Patrice
Lumumba (2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961), the first legally elected Prime
Minister of the Congo Republic was murdered by a CIA- sponsored plot, over 50
years ago.
We
must move forward, striking out tirelessly against imperialism. From all over
the world we have to learn lessons which events afford. Lumumba's murder should
be a lesson for all of us”. — Che Guevara, 1964.
“Dead,
living, free, or in prison on the orders of the colonialists, it is not I who
counts. It is the Congo, it is our people for whom independence has been
transformed into a cage where we are regarded from the outside…” — Patrice
Lumumba, October 1960.
Introduction
The
truth surrounding the brutal murder of Patrice Lumumba is an embarrassing event
which, when exposed to the African youth of today, will definitely send the US
government scratching its head. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has had
a troubled history since the assassination of Patrice Lumumba. Currently there
is conflict in the eastern DRC. But who are the main actors in the conflict
this time? African leaders, it is important to remember history so that you can
appreciate what is going on today in Africa and the rest of the world.
Lumumba
was a strong African revolutionary leader whose Pan-Africanist vision of a
united Congo gained him many enemies from the outside world. Like Kwame
Nkrumah, Lumumba sought for a country where the numerous resources of the Congo
will benefit not only the Congo but the African people as a whole. In his
famous first ever independence speech, a newly elected Prime Minister Patrice
Lumumba who had not been scheduled to speak, stood up and made this speech
(30th June 1960):
“You
who have fought for independence, and are today victorious, I salute you in the
name of the Congolese government. We have been subjected to insults and
sarcasms, to the blows we had to endure from morning to night just because we
were Africans. We learnt that the law was never the same according to whether
it was applied to whites or blacks. Who will ever forget the shootings or the
barbarous jail cells awaiting those who refused to submit to this regime of
injustice, oppression and intimidation?”
With
this speech, it was said that he signed his death warrant. >From the very
first day, the West especially the American and the Belgian governments started
to sabotage Lumumba's government and sought the immediate removal of Lumumba
all cost.
Ludo
De Witte, the Belgian author of the best book on this crime, qualifies it as
"the most important assassination of the 20th century". His
assassination's historical importance lies in a multitude of factors, the most
pertinent being the global context in which it took place, its impact on
Congolese politics since then and Lumumba's overall legacy as a nationalist
leader, writes Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, a professor of African and
Afro-American studies at the University of North Carolina, author of “The Congo
from Leopold to Kabila: A People's History”.
"Today,
it is impossible to touch down at the (far from modernized) airport of
Lubumbashi in the south of the DR Congo without a shiver of recollection of the
haunting photographs, taken of Lumumba there shortly before his assassination,
and after beatings, torture and a long, long flight in custody across the vast
country which he so loved". — Victoria Brittain, The Guardian, 2011.
Exposing
The Facts and Debunking The Then Media Distortions
It is
a fact that both the Belgian government and the United States actively sought
to have him eliminated. The CIA ordered his assassination but could not
complete the job. Instead, the United States and Belgium covertly funnelled
cash and aid to rival politicians (just as they recently did in Libya) who
seized power and arrested Lumumba. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had said
something [to CIA chief Allen Dulles] to the effect that “Lumumba should be
eliminated". This was revealed by a declassified interview with then-US
National Security Council minute keeper, Robert Johnson which was released in
August 2000 from Senate intelligence committee's inquiry on covert action. The
committee later claimed that while the CIA had conspired to kill Lumumba, it
was not directly involved in the actual murder. Therefore one must ask: on
whose orders was the actual murder executed if not the United States? Which
elements in the CIA ever faced justice for such a brutal murder?
In
his book, “In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story” John Stockwell (1978), revealed
that a CIA officer in Elizabethville was in direct touch with Lumumba's killers
the night he was assassinated. Later, another CIA agent admitted to have had
the body in the trunk of his car to try and get rid of it (p. 105) This leaked
cable went on to state that Lumumba was first picked up from the airport by
"all white guards", taken to the bush where his fate was decided and
his body completely dissolved in acid, leaving no traces whatsoever. What a
horrible way to eliminate the traces of such a hero!
Having
realised the complicity of the United Nations and the world powers, on this
brutal murder, Kwame Nkrumah thus made a broadcast to the people of Ghanaian :
“Somewhere
in Katanga in the Congo- where and when we do not know- three of our brother
freedom fighters have been done to death. They have been Patrice Lumumba, the
Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, Maurice Mpolo, the Minister in his
government who was elected from Katanga Province and Joseph Okito the
Vice-President of the Congolese Senate. About their end many things are
uncertain, but one fact is crystal clear. They have been killed because the
United Nations, whom Patrice Lumumba himself as Prime Minister had invited to
the Congo to preserve law and order, not only failed to maintain that law and
order, but also denied to the lawful Government of the Congo, all other means
of self-protection.” Kwame Nkrumah, (Challenge of the Congo, page 129).
“History
records many occasions when rulers of states have been assassinated. The murder
of Patrice Lumumba and of his two colleagues, however, is unique in that it is
the first time in history that the legal ruler of a country has been done to
death with the open connivance of a world organisation (the United Nations)
whom that ruler put his trust”, -Nkrumah concludes (page 129/130).
I
believe what happened in Libya in 2011 goes to affirm the real agenda of the
UN, as long as Africa is concerned.Just as it had always been, it is always the
same for Africa. But who cares when an African leader is brutally murdered on
the orders of Western agents? After all we are used to it.
Between
1961 and 1973 alone, six African independence leaders were assassinated by
their ex-colonial rulers, including Patrice Lumumba of the Congo.
Complicity
of the Belgian Government
A
recent report by a Belgian Commission revealed that Belgium wanted Lumumba arrested
and was not particularly concerned with Lumumba's physical well-being. Though
informed of the danger to Lumumba's life when later arrested, Belgium did not
take any action to avert his death.
Under
its own laws, Belgium was legally culpable for failing to prevent the
assassination of the leader of a country where it had colonial ties. It was
also in breach of its obligation (under U.N. Resolution 290 of 1949) to refrain
from acts or threats "aimed at impairing the freedom, independence or integrity
of another state.
In
2001, a Belgian Commission exposed that there had been previous U.S. and
Belgian plots to kill Lumumba. Among them was a CIA-sponsored attempt to poison
him, which might have come on orders from the then U.S. President Dwight D.
Eisenhower. A CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb was made to devise a poison disguised
as toothpaste for the elimination of Lumumba to which the corporate media
intended to blame on “opposition elements”. This plot however backfired.
In
another book, “Congo Cables”, the author details many communications by local
CIA Station Chief, Larry Devlin at the time who continually urged the total
elimination of Lumumba as the only outcome the US government wanted to see (p.
53, 101, 129-133, 149-152, 158-159, 184-185, 195).
Thanks
to the power of suppression, political intimidation, as well as the fear and
panic on the part of many African leaders who surrender at the expense of the
African people. The bloody hand of colonialism, imperialism and neo-colonialism
has always fought hard to burry the facts surrounding the brutal murder of many
African heroes, African reggae legends, and tens of thousands of the people.
The African people of today, continue to live under the illusion of so-called
“independence, as foreign pressure continues to mount on their leaders to
either comply or face similar fate.
That
notwithstanding, we the African generation of today, cannot sit aside and watch
our history to be distorted nor completely buried for the sake of satisfying
the wishes of the oppressor. Our revolutionary leader Patrice Lumumba has
underlined that the history of the African people must be written. This history
should not be the type that Brussels, Paris, Washington, the United Nations nor
the corporate media will teach. Rather, Africa's history should be written by
the African people and should be taught in all the countries emancipated from
colonialism and its current puppets… a history of glory and dignity.
African
scholars and all historians of African origin therefore owe our children, the
youth and our children's children, the responsibility to teach them the true
history of their ancestors. The future generations have every right to know the
sacrifices and the price which many of their ancestors had to pay (with their
blood) before we were able to attain our political independence. It was
Lumumba's wish that “Africa writes her own history, a history of glory and
dignity”.
Lumumba
and his kind we fall short of today, but we will get there. –A message to the
African youth.He is a true African hero who must be celebrated by the African
people all over the world.
Long
live Patrice Lumumba,
Long
live the people of the Congo,
Long
live Africa.
The
author is a regular writer and a political analyst on African affairs, and a
well-known social commentator in Africa. He is currently seeking to establish
the “ Project Pan-Africa (PPA)”, to create a mental revolution across Africa.
He is the editor of “The Doctor's Report”, your most reliable source of
critical analysis on African affairs. Please visit his blog at: www.honourablesaka.blogspot.co.uk and reach him
by Email at: honourablesaka@yahoo.co.uk Also Visit PPA at www.projectpanafrica.org
NOTE:
1.
"Patrice Lumumba: the most important assassination of the 20th
century" available at:
2.
Kwame Nkrumah, (1967) “Challenge of The Congo: A Case Study of Foreign
Pressures in an Independent State”, Panaf Books: London.
3.
Patrice Lumumba, (1972) Lumumba Speaks: The Speeches and Writings of Patrice
Lumumba, 1958–1961. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
4.
Patrice Lumumba, (1962) “Congo, My Country” London: Pall Mall Press.
5.
John Stockwell (1978), “In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story”. W.W. Norton.
6.
CIA document #CO 1366116.
7.
Plan to poison Congo leader Patrice Lumumba (page 464). pdf copy available at:
8.
Biography of Patrice Lumumba, available at:
9.
Karen De Young (2007), “CIA Releases Files on Past Misdeeds”, The Washington
Post. Available at:
10.
Victoria Brittain, (2011) “Africa: a continent drenched in the blood of
revolutionary heroes”. The Guardian (London). Available at:
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