0Harare - The remains of African liberation icon Patrice Emery Lumumba, the first democratically-elected Prime Minister of the DRC (then Zaire), will be repatriated from Belgium. This was announced by DRC President Felix Tshisekedi. In a national address in parliament this week, President Tshisekedi said the DRC planned to give Lumumba a proper burial in celebration of the country's 61 years of Independence in 2021. In a plot that primarily involved Belgium and the United States, Lumumba was tortured and killed in January 1961 when he was just 35-years-old. The assassination, along with Lumumba’s inspirational push for African liberation, made him an enduring icon Lumumba became a martyr of decolonisation, a hero for all the oppressed Africa.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 19, 2020 07:18 UTC