I was the first democratically elected prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I was a postal clerk and traveling salesman. In 1958, I helped found the Mouvement National Congolais, a political party that demanded independence from Belgium. In October 1959, I was arrested and imprisoned for inciting anti-colonial riots. I won the country’s first parliamentary election in June 1960.
On June 30, 1960, King Baudouin of Belgium came to grant us our independence. How arrogant. His speech was even worse. He told us that we should be thankful the Belgians brought us civilization. In my speech, I reminded him of all the crimes they committed against us. As you can imagine, he thought I was ungrateful. White kings get upset when Black men talk back to them. Predictably, the United States and Great Britain were also angry. They accused me of being a communist because I believed that the wealth of Congo should remain in Congo to create a strong society. The U.S. CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and their counterparts in Britain and Belgium paid a group of Congolese military men (including Joseph Mobutu) to kill me. I was executed by a firing squad on January 17, 1961, after a long torture session. Before they killed me, they made me eat the paper on which my Independence Day speech was written. After my assassination, people all over the world protested the destruction of our democracy.
Jan. 17, 1961: Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was Executed
On Jan. 17, 1961, Patrice Lumumba (center), at the 1960 round table conference in
Brussels to discuss Congo’s independence. Source: National Archives of the Netherlands.
democratically elected prime minister of the Republic of the Congo, Patrice
Lumumba, was executed with the assistance of the governments of Belgium and the
United States.
More than 5 million people have been killed in the DRC Democratic Republic of Congo since the late 1990s, home to some of the most serious human rights violations since World War II. A look back at Congo’s history sets the stage.
From 1885-1908, Congo was colonized by the king of Belgium, Leopoldo II, who took it as his own personal property. Initially, Leopoldo did not know that the Congo was rich in wild rubber, one of the hottest commodities on the global market at the time. At the opening of the 20th Century, Congo was the most profitable colony in Africa. It is estimated that that Leopoldo made 220 million francs, equivalent to $1.1 billion today.
Leopold refused to pay a fair price for labor or resources, and instead enslaved the population through a terror campaign, forcing the Congolese to harvest rubber. The magnitude of the violence is incomprehensible. During Leopold’s rule, 8 million to 10 million people were killed through a variety of colonial policies, making it one of the worst cases of European colonial brutality.
Congo’s colonial history foreshadows the current instability and violence plaguing the country. Since 1997, more than 5 million people have been killed there, making it one of the bloodiest battle zones since World War II. That year marked the end of a 32-year dictatorship (1965–1997) led by Joseph Mobutu, also known as Mobutu Sese Seko, a generously compensated and welcomed friend of six U.S. presidents. He came to power by assisting the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in assassinating the first democratically elected prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, in 1961. They wanted Lumumba dead because of his desire to nationalize natural resources in Congo where the money could be used to create a functioning state.
Just as the bloodshed of the colonial period was finance by highly lucrative natural resources like rubber, the violence today is likewise fueled by natural resources. One of those is coltan, a mineral required for cell phone production. Congo is righ in coltan. By studying this history, we can see a distinct connection between the brutality of colonialism and the contemporary injustice in Congo; highly coveted natural resources, exploited by corporations like Apple.
Drawn straight from the colonialist playbook, foreign influences continue to be used to destabilize African-led nations in the Caribbean, such as Haiti and Jamaica.
In my book, The African Renaissance, I guide you through a historical exploration of how colonial powers used government puppets to oppress Black people across the globe. It outlines how Donald Trump’s deportation order sparked a resurgence of empowerment among Black Africans that sparked the Renaissance for Black Africans.
My Business English for Global Communication course is not just about language learning—it is a strategic tool for Africa’s economic transformation. By improving business communication skills, African professionals can unlock new economic opportunities, drive entrepreneurship, and enhance the continent’s competitiveness on the global stage. Investing in Business English education is investing in Africa’s future.
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