LUMUMBA’S TOOTH,A PAINFUL DEATH .
✍️For decades it was kept in Belgium before it was finally returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2022.
Patrice Lumumba was the first Prime Minister of independent Congo, modern day DRC. He ruled for less than 3 months, from June to September 1960, roughly 73 days. He was removed from power through a coup backed by Belgium and the USA. The man who carried out the coup was called Joseph Desire Mobutu, commonly known as Mobutu Sese Seko. He was the most powerful military officer at the time.
After initially being placed under house arrest, Lumumba escaped but was later captured by soldiers loyal to Mobutu. He was killed 47 days later in Katanga Province, a region that was led by a man named Moise Tshombe.
The people who killed Lumumba tried to erase all the evidence. They cut his body into pieces and dissolved it in acid so that no grave would exist for people to visit or turn into a political symbol.
Years later, a Belgian police commissioner named Gerad Soete admitted that he had taken one of Lumumba’s teeth and kept it as a trophy.
For more than 60 years, the tooth was kept in Belgium.
✍️In 2022, Belgium officially returned the tooth to Lumumba’s family. A handover ceremony was held in Brussels before the remains were taken back to Congo for national mourning and burial ceremonies.
During the ceremony, the Belgian Prime Minister admitted that Belgium carried a “moral responsibility” for the events that led to Lumumba’s death.
Today, the tooth is kept in a mausoleum in Kinshasa and is treated as an important national historical relic.
In the comments section I will explain why they killed him. Check out the pinned comment.