By Amb.Emmanuel Mwamba
The Crimes of Belgium-A reminder
You cannot be in Brussels and not mention the dark crimes of that country against Africa.
During the absolute rule of Congo by King Leopold II of the Belgians (1885 to 1908), 15 million Congolese were killed as the Belgians pillaged Ivory and rubber. Others were mutilated and died from diseases as King Leopold ran the Congo using the mercenary “Force Publique” for his personal enrichment.
Belgium was at it again decades later!
Patrice Lumumba was a Pan-Africanist revolutionary and independence leader who became the first democratically-elected Prime Minister of the present-day DRC in 1960.
Lumumba, 35, was overthrown in a coup planned, orchestrated and carried out by counter-revolutionary forces directed by Belgium and the United States. He was arrested, tortured and then brutally killed on January 17, 1961.
His body was cut up and dissolved in sulphuric acid!
Last week, Belgium returned a gold crowned tooth, the only mortal remains of Lumumba. No discussion of Justice!
Therefore, you cannot walk the paved roads and be in the buildings of Brussels built by stolen wealth and blood of the Congo and as an African, miss the mention of this dark past, in order to build on a credible future.
And that seat of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium constantly reminds us of the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 held in Germany, also known as the Congo Conference where the major European nations met to decide and share lands and territories and set up rules for future colonisation, connected with the Congo River basin and Central Africa.
Lumumba told us;
“Africa will one day write her own history and in both North and South it will be a history of glory and dignity.” Patrice Lumumba.