News About Congo

In Memory of Patrice Lumumba

The 60's were a pivotal time for United States.  They were a pivotal time for Congo, too.  In Congo, Patrice Lumumba's assassination still haunts this nation.

In Congo, an Assassination’s Long Shadow - NYTimes.com.

TODAY [January 17, 2011], millions of people on another continent are observing the 50th anniversary of an event few Americans remember, the assassination of Patrice Lumumba.

A slight, goateed man with black, half-framed glasses, the 35-year-old Lumumba was the first democratically chosen leader of the vast country, nearly as large as the United States east of the Mississippi, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This treasure house of natural resources had been a colony of Belgium, which for decades had made no plans for independence. But after clashes with Congolese nationalists, the Belgians hastily arranged the first national election in 1960, and in June of that year King Baudouin arrived to formally give the territory its freedom.

“It is now up to you, gentlemen,” he arrogantly told Congolese dignitaries, “to show that you are worthy of our confidence.”

Day of the Martyrs of Independence

January 4th is a holiday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  When I first encountered this holiday last year, I thought it was a little unbelievable.  That is, Congo has national holidays.

The holiday remembers the death of Congolese killed on January 4, 1959.  Several hundreds died when they demonstrated and rioted for their independence from Belgium.

Belgian Congo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In the winter of 1958-59, while the Belgian government was debating a programme to gradually extend the political emancipation of the Congolese population, it was overtaken by events. On 4 January 1959, a prohibited political manifestation organised in Léopoldville by ABAKO got out of hand. At once, the colonial capital was in the grip of heavy rioting. It took the authorities several days to restore order and by the most conservative count several hundreds died.

The eruption of violence sent a shockwave through the Congo and Belgium alike. On 13 January, king Baudouin solemnly declared in a radio address that Belgium would work towards the full independence of the Congo "without hesitation, but also without irresponsible rashness".

Without committing to a specific date for independence, the government of prime minister Gaston Eyskens had a multi-year transition period in mind during which provincial elections would take place in December 1959, national elections in 1960 or 1961, after which administrative and political responsibilities would be gradually transferred to the Congolese, in a process presumably to be completed towards the mid-1960s.

On the ground the reality looked quite different.