Anniversary of Prime Minister Patrice Emery Lumumba’s Assassination in Congo Democratic Republic ― Date, History, and Details
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History of Anniversary of Prime Minister Patrice Emery Lumumba’s Assassination in Congo Democratic Republic and How to Celebrate/ Observe It
Patrice Emery Lumumba was a Congolese independence leader and the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Congo. He served as Prime Minister for less than three months before he was assassinated in a coup d’état.
Lumumba was born in 1925 in the village of Onalua in the Belgian Congo. He was educated at a Catholic mission school and then worked for the postal service. In 1955, he helped found the Congolese National Movement (MNC), a political party that advocated for Congo’s independence from Belgium.
The Congo gained its independence from Belgium in 1960. Lumumba was elected Prime Minister and Joseph Kasa-Vubu was elected President. However, the country was soon plunged into chaos. There were clashes between the army and UN peacekeepers, and Lumumba was accused of being too close to the Soviet Union.
In January 1961, Lumumba was arrested and imprisoned by the Congolese army. He was later transferred to the custody of Katanga province’s secessionist leader, Moise Tshombe. Lumumba was assassinated on January 17, 1961. His body was dismembered and his remains were not found until 2000.
Lumumba’s assassination was a blow to the Congo’s young democracy. It also exacerbated the country’s already volatile political situation. The Congo descended into a civil war that lasted for five years and claimed the lives of an estimated three million people.