By John Ikani
Belgium has set a new date for the return of a tooth belonging to Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba.
According to authorities, the “relic” of the first Prime Minister of the former Belgian colony who was assassinated in 1961, will be returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at an official ceremony in Brussels on 20 June.
The principle of this restitution, demanded by the Lumumba family from the Belgian King Philippe, has been accepted since 2020.
An initial plan to hand over the tooth in June last year was pushed following a wave of Covid-19 infections in the central Africa country.
A hero of independence in June 1960, Patrice Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the former Belgian Congo (former Zaire, now the DRC) and was overthrown a few months later in a coup d’état.
He was executed on 17 January 1961 along with two brothers-in-arms by separatists from the Katanga region, with the support of mercenaries from the former colonial power.
His body, dissolved in acid, has never been found, and the restitution of this “relic” should make it possible to finally erect a “memorial” in his honour in Kinshasa.
In 2002, Belgium admitted responsibility for its part in the killing.
A court in Brussels in 2020 ordered Belgian authorities to hand back the tooth to DR Congo, after it was recovered by the Belgian justice system from the family of a policeman who played a part in the disappearance of Lumumba’s body over 60 years ago.
The Belgian policeman, Gérard Soete, now deceased, had decided to bring back with him some relics like “hunting trophies”, according to the Belgian sociologist Ludo De Witte, author of a book on Lumumba’s assassination. Only one tooth attributed to Lumumba was recovered by the federal prosecutor’s office.
In his statement, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the return of the tooth “will be seen as a new corner in the history” of relations between the two countries.
The tooth is expected to be displayed in public on 30 June during its independence day celebrations in the capital, Kinshasa.
Belgium’s King Filip and Queen Mathilde are scheduled to visit the country in early June.
