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With a new introduction by the author
Patrice Lumumba, first prime minister of the Republic of Congo and a pioneer of African unity, was murdered on 17 January 1961. Lumumba was at the centre of the country’s popular defiance towards the relentless exploitation of its Belgian coloniser. When independence was finally won in June 1960, his unscheduled speech at the official ceremonies in Kinshasa, which described Belgian rule as “a humiliating slavery imposed by brute force,” received a standing ovation and made him a hero to millions. Within months he was arrested, tortured and executed.
This book unravels the appalling mass of lies and betrayals that have surrounded accounts of the murder. Employing an array of official sources as well as extensive personal testimony, it reveals a network of complicity ranging from the Belgian government, across the United Nations leadership, to the CIA. Chilling official memos which detail ‘liquidation’ and ‘threats to national interests’ are analysed alongside macabre tales of the destruction of evidence, placing in stark and dignified contrast Lumumba’s personal strength and his quest for African independence.
“The only thing we wanted for our country was the right to a decent existence, to dignity without hypocrisy, to independence without restrictions…The day will come when history will have its say.“…From Patrice Lumumba’s farewell letter to his wife
“De Witte writes without stylish frills or narrative tricks, but this is a vivid and utterly compelling account of a nation strangled at birth by the West.” – Los Angeles Times
Thoroughly researched, passionately written, deeply disturbing.” – Kirkus Reviews
“De Witte has assembled a staggering amount of detail to support his allegations of direct government participation in Lumumba's murder.” – Washington Post Book World
Ludo De Witte is a sociologist and author of the Dutch book Crisis in Kongo. The publication of The Assassination of Lumumba in Belgium prompted an official inquiry into the assassination by a parliamentary commission; its findings are due to be reported in 2001.
Cloth: June 2001
Paper: August 2002
248 pages;
8 b/w photographs
Cloth
1 85984 618 1
£17 / US$27 / CAN$39
Paper
1 85984 410 3
£10 / US$15 / CAN$22
