{"id":6103,"date":"2022-07-01T05:55:34","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T05:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ugandaupdatenews.com\/?p=6103"},"modified":"2022-07-01T05:55:43","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T05:55:43","slug":"patrice-lumumba-dr-congo-buries-tooth-of-independence-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/patrice-lumumba-dr-congo-buries-tooth-of-independence-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"Patrice Lumumba: DR Congo buries tooth of independence hero"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The gold-crowned tooth of Democratic Republic of Congo independence hero Patrice Lumumba has been buried more than 60 years after he was assassinated.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the only part of his body that exists after his remains were dissolved in acid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belgian policeman who oversaw the disposal took the tooth as a trophy. It was returned to the family last week and has toured several parts of DR Congo in a coffin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

People have been able to pay their respects ahead of the funeral that took place in the capital, Kinshasa, on a road named in his honour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi, Lumumba’s family and other dignitaries were at the private service which took place before the coffin was transferred to a specially built mausoleum.”May the land of our ancestors be sweet and mild to you,” said the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lumumba was the country’s first prime minister and one of the leaders of the struggle for independence. He was also seen as one of the most prominent voices in Africa’s anti-colonial movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday marks 62 years since the former colonial power Belgium relinquished control of the vast country. But it viewed Lumumba as a barrier to its efforts to maintain influence as well as hold on to important economic interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a famous speech on independence day in 1960, in front of Belgian dignitaries including King Baudouin, Lumumba, aged 34, castigated Belgium saying that the Congolese had been held in “humiliating slavery”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Belgians were stunned as a black African had never dared speak like this in front of Europeans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lumumba was toppled as prime minister just over two months later. Then in January 1961, with the tacit backing of Belgium, he was shot by a firing squad, along with two allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Western powers were also suspicious of him, fearing that he was sympathetic to the USSR during the Cold War and some, including the US, plotted to assassinate him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Belgian policeman, Gerard Soete, was given the job of getting rid of the evidence. It was during that process that he pocketed the tooth and took it back with him to Belgium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was decades later that he revealed that he still had the tooth and only two years ago that a Belgian court ruled that it should be returned to the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Covid pandemic delayed the process but last week it was handed over in Brussels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The gold-crowned tooth of Democratic Republic of Congo independence hero Patrice Lumumba has been buried more than 60 years after<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[195],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-continental-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/lumu.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3343,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/remains-of-congos-independence-day-leader-lumumba-to-be-returned-home-after-60-years-of-struggle\/","url_meta":{"origin":6103,"position":0},"title":"REMAINS OF CONGO’S INDEPENDENCE -DAY LEADER LUMUMBA TO BE RETURNED HOME AFTER 60 YEARS OF STRUGGLE","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"May 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Sixty years after Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba was assassinated and dissolved in acid, former colonial power Belgium is to restore his last remains -- a single tooth -- to his family. The handover ceremony will launch a period of official mourning, during which both countries will look back on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Foreign International News"","block_context":{"text":"Foreign International News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/foreign-international-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/gettyimages-50561610-612x612-1.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/gettyimages-50561610-612x612-1.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/gettyimages-50561610-612x612-1.jpg 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16294,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/dr-congo-superfan-mboladinga-lumumba-vea-leaves-afcon-as-a-hero\/","url_meta":{"origin":6103,"position":1},"title":"DR Congo superfan Mboladinga \u2018Lumumba Vea\u2019 leaves AFCON as a hero","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"January 12, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Heartbroken after his team\u2019s loss to Algeria, Mboladinga won over fans and left a lasting impact on the tournament The Democratic Republic of the Congo have exited the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 after a heartbreaking extra-time\u00a0loss\u00a0to Algeria, but their most famous supporter has made a lasting impact on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AFP__20260106__89TD3BB__v2__MidRes__CorrectionFblAfr2025Match43AlgDrc-1767864667.webp","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AFP__20260106__89TD3BB__v2__MidRes__CorrectionFblAfr2025Match43AlgDrc-1767864667.webp 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AFP__20260106__89TD3BB__v2__MidRes__CorrectionFblAfr2025Match43AlgDrc-1767864667.webp 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AFP__20260106__89TD3BB__v2__MidRes__CorrectionFblAfr2025Match43AlgDrc-1767864667.webp 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2156,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/marking-57-years-since-pan-africanist-patrice-lumumba-was-assassinated\/","url_meta":{"origin":6103,"position":2},"title":"MARKING 57 YEARS SINCE PAN-AFRICANIST PATRICE LUMUMBA WAS ASSASSINATED","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"October 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Patrice Lumumba in his own words: \u201cNeither brutality nor cruelty nor torture will ever bring me to ask for mercy, for I prefer to die with my head unbowed\u2026\u201d While in incarceration just weeks away from his 17 January 1961 horrific assassination at a tender age of 36, the Congolese\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Pan Africanism"","block_context":{"text":"Pan Africanism","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/pan-africanism\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/lumu.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/lumu.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/lumu.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/lumu.jpg 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12772,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/makerere-universitys-lumumba-hall-to-accommodate-female-students-symbolic-gongom-to-be-retired\/","url_meta":{"origin":6103,"position":3},"title":"Makerere University’s Lumumba Hall to Accommodate Female Students, Symbolic Gongom To Be Retired","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"September 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Due to on going renovations at Makerere University\u2019s aging residences for students accommodation, authorities have now given a green-light for female students to be temporally accommodated at the hitherto males only Lumumba Hall. 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Museveni was addressing leaders of the East African Community (EAC) during the EAC Nairobi peace and security conference to find lasting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "EAC Regional News"","block_context":{"text":"EAC Regional News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/eac-regional-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/museveni.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/museveni.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/museveni.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/museveni.jpg 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16775,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/fugitive-prisons-officer-moses-anguyo-who-shot-and-killed-people-arrested-in-dr-congo\/","url_meta":{"origin":6103,"position":5},"title":"Fugitive Prisons Officer Moses Anguyo who Shot And Killed People Arrested In DR Congo","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"March 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A Ugandan prison warder,\u00a0Moses Anguyo (No. 13544), who was on the run after killing four people at Kiboga Central Prison, was arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)\u00a0 Anguyo was apprehended around 3:00 a.m. in Aru Town, Ituri Province, in the DRC by a joint security force. 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