18/12/2025
A heroe who got k!lled, his body cut into pieces & dissolved in sulphuric acid
11 PM. January 17th, 1961. Deep in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a secret convoy moves under the cover of darkness. Inside that convoy is a man who dared to dream of a free nation. Together with his two closest allies will be execut£d, their bod!es cut into pieces, and dissolved in barrels of sulfuric acid.
This is the final night of the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo; Patrice Emery Lumumba.
In 1960, Congo gained independence from Belgium after nearly eight decades of harsh colonial rule. Out of this struggle rose one man: Patrice Lumumba—a poet, a visionary, a champion of dignity and equality. He spoke with confidence that resonated across the continent. He wanted unity. He wanted self-determination. And for millions, he became the symbol of hope and a new, proud Congo. But for others like foreign powers with deep interests in Congo’s minerals—Lumumba was a dangerous man. He could not be corrupted or controlled, and so the plotting began.
Barely two months after independence, chaos erupted in the new nation. The army rebelled, and the mineral-rich province of Katanga attempted to break away with Belgian support. In the middle of the crisis, on September 5th, 1960, President Joseph Kasa-Vubu dismissed Lumumba from office. But Lumumba refused to step aside. He believed the law would protect him. Instead, he became a marked man, hunted by his own government, foreign agents, and the very forces he had hoped to unite. Lumumba was no longer a prime minister; he was now a target.
December 1st, 1960. Lumumba was captured in Port Francqui while trying to flee to Kisangui to rally his supporters. He was beaten, tied up, humiliated, and finally flown to Katanga, the stronghold of his enemies. From that moment, his fate had already been decided.
Around 11 PM on the night of January 17th, 1961, the final act began. Lumumba and his two loyal associates, Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, were dragged into the thick forest. There was no courtroom, no trial, no witnesses, no mercy only guns, whispers, and the cold silence of the night. Lumumba, exhausted and bruised, stood tall even in his final moments. He tried to speak, to leave one last message for his people, but he was silenced. Lumumba was dragged before a firing squad. Their executioners included Belgian officers, Katangan policemen, and Congolese soldiers. One by one, they were shot and dumped into shallow graves.
But the secret didn’t stay hidden for long. Villagers noticed the disturbed fresh soil, and rumors began to spread. Panicked, the k!llers returned later at night. The secret could not be risked. Their mission was to erase every trace. They dug up the bod!es, cut them into parts, and dissolved them in barrels of sulfuric acid, determined to erase every trace.
Only one thing survived. A Belgian officer uprooted a tooth from Lumumba’s skull and kept it proudly as a trophy. He believed this final act would wipe the man from memory, but history had other plans.
In 2016, Brussels, Belgium. More than 50 years later, Lumumba’s tooth resurfaced. It was in the Belgian prosecutor’s office, reported to have been taken from the daughter of the officer who had held it as a trophy since 1961. In 2020, at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, the King of Belgium finally responded to a letter by Patrice Lumumba’s daughter, in which she asked for the return of her father’s remains not for vengeance, but for closure. The same year, during a global reckoning with colonial crimes, Belgium finally agreed.
The federal prosecutor himself handed over the tooth from his office, placing it in a small casket. For his family, it was the only physical piece of their father left in this world. A small casket containing Lumumba’s last remains began its journey home.
On June 30th, 2022, sixty-one years after his assassination ,Patrice Lumumba’s tooth was finally laid to rest in Kinshasa City. Thousands gathered, many weeping. Leaders paid tribute. A nation, broken for so long, tried to heal a wound that had bled for generations. A hero betrayed. A legacy reclaimed.
Since Lumumba’s death, Congo has struggled to find lasting stability. Coups, wars, and foreign interference have shadowed the land he fought to free. Many believe the suffering began the night Lumumba was killed, a night when hope was dissolved with him in barrels of sulfuric acid.
But his story refused to fade. Lumumba remains a symbol of African resistance, reminding us that truth can be buried but never destroyed, and that some dreams are too powerful to silence, even when their dreamer is taken in the dead of night.
Patrice Lumumba—the man they tried to erase, but never could.
Written by Luckson F Mvula
Copyright reserved © Luckson F Mvula
