Tooth of Patrice Lumumba not stolen after all
The tooth of Patrice Lumumba, the only remains of the Congolese independence leader, was not stolen from his mausoleum in Kinshasa after all, Congolese journalist Pascal Mulegwa reported on X on Wednesday.
Vandals broke into the mausoleum during the night from Sunday to Monday. Images circulating on social media showed a window smashed and the coffin containing the tooth lying on the ground.
It was initially unclear whether the tooth, which has great symbolic value, had been stolen. Congolese authorities could not confirm this on Tuesday, citing an ongoing police investigation.
High-security location
Journalist Mulegwa reported on Wednesday, citing a source close to the Lumumba family, that the tooth was not stolen. According to this source, the tooth had not been at the mausoleum for months due to poor security and maintenance. It is now being kept in a secret, high-security location.
Amory Kalema P Lumumba, a grandson of Patrice Lumumba, confirmed the news in a statement. "It is with profound horror that I learned yesterday 19 November, in Kinshasa, of the desecration of my grandfather’s grave, Patrice Emery Lumumba," he wrote. "Thankfully, my grandfather’s remains have been secured."
To Amory Lumumba, a former political analyst with the International Crisis Group, the incident "reflects the severe moral decay that has taken root in Congolese society", mirrored by "the failure of our political and economic elite to uphold the standards of integrity and responsibility that the people deserve".
Honouring a hero
Amory Lumumba blames not security personnel but the leaders responsible for their mismanagement and poor working conditions. He concluded his statement with a call to judge a society by the way it honours its heroes.
The remains of Patrice Lumumba were returned from Belgium to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2022. The Belgian court had confiscated the tooth from the daughter of Gerard Soete, a Belgian agent involved in the assassination of Lumumba. Lumumba was executed by local soldiers in the presence of Belgian officers in separatist Katanga in 1961, just months after Congo's independence from Belgium.
Patrice Lumumba's mausoleum at the Limete Tower in Kinshasa in June 2022 © PHOTO ARSENE MPIANA / AFP
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