The Assassination of Lumumba

Ludo de Witte

Verso, 2002 - Biography & Autobiography - 226 pages

Patrice Lumumba, first prime minister of the Republic of Congo and a pioneer of African unity, was murdered on 17 January 1961.

Democratically elected to lead the Mouvement National Congolais, the party he founded in 1958, Lumumba was at the centre of the country's growing popular defiance of the colonial rule of oppression imposed by Belgium. When, in June 1960, independence was finally won, his unscheduled speech at the official ceremonies in Kinshasa received a standing ovation and made him a hero to millions. Always a threat to those who sought to maintain a covert imperialist hand over the country, however, he became within months the victim of an insidious plot and was arrested and subsequently tortured and executed.

This book unravels the appalling mass of lies, hypocrisy and betrayals that have surrounded accounts of the assassination since it perpetration. Making use of a huge array of official sources as well as personal testimony from many of those in the Congo at the time, Ludo De Witte reveals a network of complicity ranging from the Belgian government to the CIA. Chilling official memos which detail 'liquidation' and 'threats to national interests' are analysed alongside macabre tales of the destruction of evidence, putting Patrice Lumumba's personal strength and his dignified quest for African unity in stark contrast with one of the murkiest episodes in twentieth-century politics.

What people are saying

User Review -

Much praise is due to this esteemed writer, historian and crusader for justice. I found this book to be one of the best modern classical writings detailing in the most provocative, straight-forward, bold, eloquent and educated ways most possible. No one collected data, researched, scanned and analyzed documents, cross referenced, while remaining true to keeping the reader totally glued and icily captured. I thank the author for his honest, and amazing accounts of this brutal and barbaric murder and assassination of one of the most dynamic, prolific, kindhearted, family loving prince of the Congo.
by Nboya Ashanti Kabaka 

User Review  - Overstock.com

everything was fine

Contents

• THE DEATH CELL: 46
• THE GREEN LIGHT FROM BRUSSELS: 67
• LUMUMBAS LAST: 93
• OPERATION COVERUP: 125
• A RIVER OF BLOOD: 153
• DANSE MACABRE IN GBADOLITE: 165
• Lumumbas political testament: 184
• Bibliography: 206
• Chronology: 213

Popular passages

Page 16 - In high quarters here it is the clear-cut conclusion that if [Lumumba] continues to hold high office, the inevitable result will at best be chaos and at worst pave the way to Communist takeover of the Congo with disastrous consequences for the prestige of the UN and for the interests of the free world generally. Consequently we concluded that his removal must be an urgent and prime objective and that under existing conditions this should be a high priority of our covert action.‎

Page 185 - Congolese, to accomplish the sacred task of reconstructing our independence and our sovereignty: for without dignity there is no liberty, without justice there is no dignity, and without independence there are no free men. Neither...‎

Page 155 - Command, and mercenaries; 3. Calls upon all States to take immediate and energetic measures to prevent the departure of such personnel for the Congo from their territories, and for the denial of transit and other facilities to them; 4. Decides that an immediate and impartial investigation be held in order to ascertain the circumstances of the death of Mr. Lumumba and his colleagues and that the perpetrators of these crimes be punished; 5.‎

Page 155 - ... Congolese armed units and personnel should be re-organized and brought under discipline and control, and arrangements be made on impartial and equitable bases to that end and with a view to the elimination of any possibility of interference by such units and personnel in the political life of the Congo; 3. Calls upon all States to extend their full co-operation and assistance and take such measures as may be necessary on their part, for the implementation; of this resolution.‎

Page 154 - Having learnt with deep regret the announcement of the killing of the Congolese leaders, Mr. Patrice Lumumba, Mr. Maurice Mpolo and Mr. Joseph Okito, Deeply concerned at the grave repercussions of these crimes and the danger of wide.spread civil war and bloodshed in the Congo and the threat to international peace and security...‎

Page 12 - Katanga submit the Province to immediate control and authority of the Central Government against its wishes? They consider this seriously to jeopardize their possibility to work for other constitutional solutions than a strictly Unitarian one, eg, some kind of federal structure providing for a higher degree of provincial self-government than now foreseen.‎

Page 15 - July 14, 1960. I personally laid particular stress on this point in the letter I sent to you on August 12 through the intermediary of Mr. Ralph Bunche, your special representative. Completely ignoring the legal Government of the Republic, you sent a telegram from New York to Mr. Tshombe, leader of the Katanga rebellion and emissary of the Belgian Government. Mr. Tshombe, again at the instigation of the Belgians placed at his side, replied to this telegram stipulating two conditions for the entry...‎

Page 155 - Recognizing the imperative necessity of the restoration of parliamentary institutions in the Congo in accordance with the fundamental law of the country, so that the will of the people should be reflected through the freely elected Parliament...‎

Page 156 - Congo, must be regarded as a mandatory decision that all Members of the United Nations are legally bound to accept and carry out in accordance with Article 25 of the Charter.‎

About the author

Ludo De Witte is a sociologist and a writer. He is author of the Dutch work Crisis in Kongo and has researched two broadcast television documentaries on Patrice Lumumba.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Assassination of Lumumba
• Author: Ludo de Witte
• Translated by: Ann Wright
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Verso, 2002
• ISBN: 1859844103, 9781859844106
• Length: 226 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Political; History / Africa / General; History / Modern / 20th Century