The remains of assassinated Congolese Prime Minister, Patrice Emery Lumumba, who was murdered in 1961, has been returned to his family from Belgium where one of his tooth was found.
The golden tooth which is one of the relic that the Belgian justice system will hand over to Lumumba’s family on Monday in a two-part ceremony at the Egmont Palace, in Brussels, is part of agreement reached by the Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo during the visit of King Philippe to the Central African country.
Lumumba who has been widely acclaimed as the father of Congolese independence, was assassinated alongside with two fellow freedom on January 17, 1961, and more than 60 years after his death, his remains will be reunited with his family and people.
The symbolic handover of Congolese independence leader’s remains is meant to soothe a family’s and a country’s historic pain, a DRC government spokesman said.
The spokesman added that on Tuesday, the Congolese delegation will return to the DRC where the relic will be taken to all relevant places in the life of the man who still embodies Congolese independence.
While the restitution of Lumumba’s tooth may be seen as a chance for redemption by Belgium especially the racism meted out to the people of the DRC during its colonial rule, the gesture is also meant to make a solid commitment to rectify its historical wrongs.
The return of Lumumba’s remains also means his family can finally have a “resting place where they can pray for their father,” said Brussels lawyer Christophe Marchand, who represents two of Lumumba’s five children, Francois and Roland.
“Without the remains, they can’t fully mourn,” Marchand said.
A Belgian official handed a blue box containing the tooth to members of the Lumumba family at an official ceremony at Egmont Palace in the Belgian and following the handover, Lumumba’s tooth will return to Kinshasha for proper burial.