Belgium Celebrates 100 Years Since The Birth Of Patrice Lumumba

This month (July 2) would have been Patrice Lumumba’s 100th birthday if he were still living. At a time when Belgium, the former colonial power, is dealing with further inquiries over his death, an exhibition in Brussels is commemorating this unachieved milestone.

The first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, was toppled amid a political crisis when he was 35 years old. He and two friends, Joseph Okito and Maurice Mpolo, were tortured and killed by firing squad in January 1961. Lumumba’s family is still looking for answers nearly 65 years after the killings, which were committed by Congolese rivals with Belgian officials’ help.

A 92-year-old former ambassador named Étienne Davignon was unexpectedly referred to the Brussels criminal court by Belgium’s federal prosecutor in June of this year for possible war crimes connected to the murders.

In 2011, the Lumumba family accused ten former officials of being involved in his assassination, and Davignon, who was sent to Congo as a 28-year-old diplomatic intern on the eve of independence in 1960, is the only one who has survived. Although an allegation of intent to kill has been dropped, Lumumba is charged with wrongful confinement, denial of a fair trial, and “humiliating and degrading treatment.” Davignon has rejected all allegations of participation.

Christophe Marchand, a lawyer for the Lumumba family, said:

“The idea is to have a judicial trial and to have the truth about what happened, not only the role of Étienne Davignon – because he was one part in the whole criminal plan.”

During his brief tenure as premier, Lumumba, a dynamic advocate for Congolese independence, made some terrible choices. According to one historian, his murder was Congo’s “initial sin,” shattering aspirations for harmony and prosperity in the recently formed nation. A parliamentary investigation in 2001 came to the conclusion that Belgian officials were morally accountable for the circumstances surrounding the Congolese leader’s horrific demise.

“Belgian civil servants had an active part in the movement of Lumumba from Léopoldville (Kinshasa) to Katanga,” where he was assassinated, according to Marchand, who said the parliamentary inquiry had made obvious.

The lawyer said it was very important that Belgium’s top prosecutor had now decided there was sufficient evidence for a trial, even if he believed the probe should have started sooner. A judge will have a hearing in January 2026 to determine whether to proceed with a trial.

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In an interview with SudInfo last July, Davignon said that the previous parliamentary investigation had questioned him and “determined that I had no direct or indirect culpability for what happened to Lumumba.”

He charged that the prosecution had “gone into things a bit blindly” and was overly enthusiastic. Although it was not named in the prosecutor’s report, Belgium’s foreign ministry stated that it was unable to respond due to respect for the separation of powers.