Patrice Lumumba: Speech at the Proclamation of Congolese Independence

About the Author

Patrice Lumumba was born in Onalua, a village in Katako-Kombe territory, in the northeastern corner of the province of Kasai. He was a member of the Tetela ethnic group, which forms the majority in Katako-Kombe territory and in Sankuru district but is outnumbered within Kasai by the Luba-Kasai ethnic community. After attending Protestant and Catholic mission schools in his home area, Lumumba went to work in Maniema and then to Stanleyville (now Kisangani), where he found a job in the post office. He was sent to Léopoldville to the postal school, from which he obtained a diploma. With that certificate, he at last had the right to claim the status of évolué, someone who has “evolved” to the point of being able to live and work in the new world created by colonialism. Lumumba returned to Stanleyville, where he became an accountant in the post office. There he continued to contribute to the Congolese press.

At Stanleyville, Lumumba was recruited to work as a research assistant on a UN educational, scientific and cultural organization project studying the urbanization of Stanleyville. He became a leader of the évolués of Stanleyville. At one point, in 1953, he occupied seven posts in ethnic, professional, and other associations. Under his leadership, the Association of Évolués of Stanleyville became a political movement, defending the interests of its members, notably with respect to housing. As president of the association in 1954, he was able to meet the minister of colonies, Auguste Buisseret, who was promoting lay schools (not run by missions). Two years later, he met King Baudouin, who was visiting the capital of the province of Orientale.

Lumumba was invited with others to make a study tour of Belgium under the auspices of Buisseret. On his return he was arrested on a charge of embezzlement from the post office. He was convicted one year later, and after various reductions of sentence, he was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment and a fine. When Lumumba was freed from prison, he moved to Léopoldville, the capital, and joined the MNC, the first nationwide Congolese political party. He then became president of the MNC, which soon split. His faction, the MNC-Lumumba, was centralist in orientation. The other faction, the MNC-Kalonji, was federalist and became a de facto ethnic party of the Luba-Kasai. (Centralists favored a strong central government, while federalists favored granting important powers to the provincial governments.) In December 1958 Lumumba attended the First All-African People's Conference in Accra, Ghana, where he met nationalists from across the African continent and was made a member of the permanent organization set up by the conference. From this point on, his outlook and vocabulary were colored by Pan-Africanist goals.

Lumumba's second experience of colonial justice came at the end of 1959. A rally of the MNC-Lumumba in Stanleyville led to rioting and a number of deaths. Lumumba was briefly imprisoned on charges of inciting the riot but was set free in time to attend a roundtable of Congolese leaders held in Brussels in January of 1960. Reportedly, the other political leaders insisted on his release. Lumumba's party received more votes than any other in the elections of May 1960. The Belgians tried to find an alternative but failed, and they were obliged to invite Lumumba to form a government.

Five days after independence, the army mutinied against its European officers. In response, the Lumumba government was obliged to Africanize the officer corps. From July 6 to July 9, the mutiny spread to Equateur and Katanga provinces, and Belgium sent in paratroopers, allegedly to protect its citizens. Moise Tshombe declared Katanga independent, whereupon Lumumba and Kasavubu requested UN military assistance in the face of Belgian aggression and Katanga secession. On July 12 the UN Security Council called for Belgian withdrawal and authorized UN intervention.

In August, Albert Kalonji led South Kasai into secession. Lumumba sent the national army into the breakaway province, where it carried out massacres of civilians. Concerned that the UN force sent to help restore order was not helping to crush the secessionists, Lumumba turned to the Soviet Union for assistance. The U.S. government saw the Soviet activity as a maneuver to spread Communist influence in central Africa. Kasavubu, upset by the Soviet arrival, dismissed Lumumba. Lumumba declared Kasavubu deposed. Both Lumumba and Kasavubu then ordered Joseph Mobutu, army chief of staff, to arrest the other. On September 14, 1960, Mobutu took control in a coup sponsored by the Central Intelligence Agency. The new regime placed Lumumba under house arrest for the second time and kept Kasavubu as president. In November 1960 Deputy Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga went to Stanleyville to establish a rival national government. Lumumba, under house arrest, left to join Gizenga but was arrested and imprisoned. In January 1961 Lumumba was transferred to Katanga, where, on January 17, he was executed by firing squad.