Remembering the Congo:
Patrice Lumumba
Since the former slave trading nations of France, Germany, Spain, England, Portugal and the United States convened the Berlin Conference in 1884, Africa has become a victim of artificially imposed boundaries on its territories.It was through the Berlin Conference that these slave trading nations divided Africa among themselves, which ushered in the colonial period in African history.
Thus, we can observe a great deal of the strife that exists in Africa today from this backdrop. These colonial configurations that were imposed on Africa, with the assistance of corrupt African leaders cooperating with the system of white supremacy, has caused great harm to the people of Africa.
Such is the case of Central Africa where we witness thousands of African people in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire and Tanzania dying on a daily basis from either war or starvation in refugee camps. These deaths have resulted from European manipulation and African leadership cooperation.
It is in this context that we should examine the historical backdrop to this region that is not often discussed today. This historical backdrop centers around what was called the Belgium Congo (by the Europeans) that is called Democratic Republic of Congo [Zaire] today.
Since the assassination of the great African leader, Patrice Lumumba, on January 17, 1961, Zaire has become a virtual puppet of the United States and the rest of the western world. It is ironic that Zaire's current President, Mobutu Sese Seko, (note: this article is dated: Dec. 10, 1996. See information below) was implicated in cooperating with the CIA in the death of Lumumba. Mobutu has since become one of the world's wealthiest men with most of his wealth stashed away in European banks.
Mobutu was often the pipeline for cash transfers for the CIA and on one occasion pocketed $1,986,700 instead of only $600,000 which was to reimburse him for a plane which had been leased by the CIA and lost.
According to renown African scholar/ thinker Dr. Jacob Carruthers, "In the 15th century prosperous and self sufficient Empires and independent communities existed and had for thousands of years in the Congo-Ngola-Zyere region. In that century the Portuguese from Europe stumbled upon the area and began a struggle to control the world's most vital source of energy, wealth and life—the heart of Africa."
Further, Dr. Carruthers' explains, "The ultimate on-slaught against the Congo came at the end of the Berlin Conference where the European superpowers united to dominate Africa. King Leopold II of Belgium was made the first white Lord of the so-called Free State. Its independence was guaranteed, which meant the freedom of Europeans to systematically plunder the Congo, replacing the unregulated adventurism and raping which had preceded it."
Finally, Dr. Carruthers reveals that, "It was then that Rockerfeller, Morgan and Guggenhiemer were given the right to rob Africa of diamonds, rubber and later cobalt and uranium and more impotantly Black bodies and mines."
Patrice Hemery Lumumba was born July 2, 1925 in Katako Kombe, a small village in a remote area, then referred to as the Congo. Born to a family of five and educated by missionaries, he was able to caste off the domination of European influences on his life and relate to the interests of the masses of Congolese people.
At an early age he recognized the need to develop the kind of skills necessary to become an active participant in the African Liberation Movement. In his efforts to develop his skills Patrice had a variety of work experiences that included working in a hospital and a post office that gave him greater insights to the overall oppression of the Congolese people.
The more contact Patrice had with the European world helped him develop the kind of political consciousness that made him one of the most important leaders in the African Independence Movement.
As a result of his participation of being Secretary in the Liberal Party of the Congo and his efforts to talk with the Belgian officials, Patrice was able to see that independence and freedom for his people would not come through the efforts of the Liberal Party or negotiations with Europeans.
His outspokenness and determination to find a vehicle to free the Congolese people led to his being sentenced to two years in prison. Although his prison sentence was cut short, upon his release, the Belgian colonialists, along with their African servants, attempted to isolate Patrice from the growing movement of the masses of people.
In October 1958 Patrice helped form the National Congolese Movement which was to become the forerunner in the liberation struggle. In December of 1958, Patrice was invited to a conference of African nations hosted by Kwame Nkrumah in Accra, Ghana. It was through this conference that Patrice began to establish contact with the leaders of the liberation movements in other African countries. From this point forward a liberation movement in the Congo escalated to the point that the Belgian Government decided to grant the Congolese people their so-called freedom on June 30, 1960.
At the independence day ceremony on June 30, while his African Movement friends were thanking the Belgians for granting them their independence, it is written that Patrice became enraged and grabbed the microphone and told his people that the colonization of the Congo was nothing other than the domination of the white world over the Black world.
He went on to point out that "the humiliating slavery was imposed on the African people of the Congo by force. The Republic of the Congo has been proclaimed, and our land is now in the hands of her children." This statement by Patrice caused the European world and their African servants to conspire in the next year to find a way to get rid of this most courageous spokesman for the interest of the Congolese people. Long live the spirit of the Congolese people.
Long live the spirit of the Congolese people and Patrice Lumumba! We must never forget their struggle and the loss of life that continues.
******* The Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire, emerged from a rebel coup in 1997 with a new name and new leadership, but prospects for real change after decades of corruption remain uncertain.
Rebel leader Laurent Kabila's troops rolled over the feeble resistance put up by the government troops of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who died shortly after being forced into exile.
Kabila renamed the country and proclaimed himself president in May 1997.
The immediate prospects of many people remain bleak in a society plundered for more than 30 years under Mobutu. The basics of a functioning society are still far from the norm, with high inflation, widespread poverty and an unstable currency.
The political situation appears similarly unreliable. Kabila has promised elections for 1999, but some observers are skeptical.
He has suppressed political opposition, eliminated subordinate positions and resisted U.N. investigations of alleged human rights abuses involving an unknown number of refugees.
Land and People | History | | Financial | Weather
DEMOGRAPHICS
Population: 47,440,362
Average life span: 45.2 male, 49 female
GDP per capita (US$): $400
Literacy rate: 77%THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE
Capital: Kinshasa
Size: 905,365 sq. mi. (2,344,885 sq. km.)
Government type: Republic (In transition)
Political leaders: Laurent Kabila, president; Likulia Bolongo, prime minister
Religions: Christianity, Kimbanguist, Islam, traditional
Languages: French (official), English, numerous dialectsHISTORY
1480s-90s -- Portugal establishes diplomatic relations with the Kongo kingdom, and kingdom representatives visit the Vatican. The kingdom adopts Roman Catholicism.
1500s-1800s -- Portuguese and other European traders buy black African slaves from regional leaders.
Late 1870s -- British explorer Henry Stanley establishes outposts for King Leopold II of Belgium.
1885 -- The Congo Free State is formed as King Leopold II's personal colonial property.
1908 -- International criticism of the harsh treatment of the area's indigenous people under Leopold's rule prompts the Belgian government to assume control of the Congo Free State. The colony is renamed the Belgian Congo.
1920s-40s -- The colony's natural resources bring in wealth for Belgium until the Great Depression; during World War II, they provide raw materials for the Allies.
June 30, 1960 -- Responding to an independence drive sweeping Africa, Belgium gives up the colony, which renames itself Congo.
July-September 1960 -- Lacking clear leadership, the young nation tries a power-sharing arrangement between Joseph Kasavubu as president and Patrice Lumumba as prime minister. But Kasavubu dismisses Lumumba, whose supporters set up a rival government. Lumumba is assassinated the next year.
1960-64 -- U.N. troops work to restore order at the government's invitation.
1964 -- Moise Tshombe becomes prime minister of the reunited country.
1965 -- National elections are held. Tshombe's coalition wins but falls apart. The army seizes power, and Gen. Joseph Mobutu becomes president.
Early 1970s -- Mobutu, pushing African names to reflect African pride, renames the country Zaire and himself Mobutu Sese Seko.
1970s -- Two external attempts by rebels to unseat Mobutu are driven back.
1970s-80s -- Living standards for many Zairians drop. Political pressure builds under an autocratic government.
Early 1990s -- Mobutu is forced to share power and allow other political parties.
Early 1997 -- Troops of rebel leader Laurent Kabila seize much of the country while Mobutu seeks medical treatment abroad. Mobutu returns but is forced to concede defeat and flees abroad.
May 1997 -- Kabila names himself president and renames the country the Democratic Republic of Congo.
September 1997 -- Mobutu, widely assumed to have bilked his country of untold wealth, dies in exile in Morocco.
FINANCIAL
Monetary unit:
Zaire; Congolese franc pendingArticle by: Dr. Conrad W. Worrill
Dec. 10, 1996
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