Patrice Lumumba
About Patrice Lumumba
The first Prime Minister of independent Congo, who was assassinated after just months in office. Lumumba was a passionate Pan Africanist who demanded genuine independence from Belgium. When the Congo Crisis erupted, Lumumba appealed to the Soviet Union for help, alarming the US. He was overthrown in a CIA supported coup, captured, and executed in January 1961. His assassination involved Belgian and American complicity. It took four decades for Belgium to officially apologize. Lumumba became a martyr for African independence. His only son was elected President of Congo in 2023.
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