The Assassination of Lumumba

by Ludo De Witte, Renee Fenby (Translator), Ann Wright (Translator)

The Assassination of Lumumba unravels the appalling mass of lies, hypocrisy and betrayals that have surrounded accounts of the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba—the first prime minister of the Republic of Congo and a pioneer of African unity—since it perpetration. Making use of a huge array of official sources as well as personal testimony from many of those in the Congo at the time, Ludo De Witte reveals a network of complicity ranging from the Belgian government to the CIA. Patrice Lumumba’s personal strength and his quest for African unity emerges in stark contrast with one of the murkiest episodes in twentieth-century politics.

Genres: History, Africa, Nonfiction, Politics, Belgium, Crime, Education

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Sociologist and a writer. He is author of the Dutch work Crisis in Kongo and has researched two broadcast television documentaries on Patrice Lumumba.

Reviews

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ludo de Witte's The Assassination of Lumumba is a slim but incredibly damning volume about the death of Patrice Lumumba, the Congo's first independent president and victim of Western skulduggery at the height of the Cold War. Journalist de Witte leaves no doubt of the Belgian government's complicity in Lumumba's death (he was murdered while ostensibly in the care of UN peacekeepers), showing that the orders to kill the "dirty monkey" came from the highest councils of government, leaving only Katangan rebels to carry out the deed. More controversially, he asserts that the American government (if not the CIA in particular) and the United Nations were complicit in Lumumba's death, condoning Belgian and Katangan misdeeds in the sake of "order." The book depicts Lumumba's last days (his attempted escape, heroic last stand and brutal demise) in grim detail, though it's less interested in probing either Lumumba's personality or Congolese aspirations than attacking the Western powers. Even so, an extremely powerful book that, if nothing else, demonstrates why it's been so hard for African nations to extricate themselves from colonialism's legacy...the colonizers rigged the game hopelessly against them, with consequences reverberating decades later.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patrice Lumumba was a symbol for all that is despised by the Imperialistic West. A nation that was as rich with resources as the Congo couldn't POSSIBLY be left to its own independence. Lumumba was a people's leader. He had the following of the masses. He was an inspiration to not only the people of the Congo, but to many around the world, particularly in Africa during this time when many countries on the continent were throwing off the yoke of imperialism. It can be said that with Lumumba's assassination, that the period of African neo-colonialism officially began. This particular case of outright murder was a combined effort with Belgium, French and American interests. De Witte does an excellent job exposing this injustice for what it was...an attempt by the West to yet again meddle in the affairs of third world nations trying to maintain sovereignty and independence. In this case they were successful. Lumumba simply did not have enough time to prepare a solid nationalistic foundation in the Congo. Brussels thought that they would have much longer to move out of the nation, but realized that with the immense popularity of Lumumba, that they would have to move much faster, and would have to do so in a way that would place the blame on a few drunken Congolese enemies of Lumumba looking to stage a coup. It was only with the writing of this book that opinions began to change. In fact, this book had such an impact, that the Belgian Parliament ordered an official investigation into the murders of Lumumba and his 2 aides on that fateful day in January of 1961. We have yet to see justice done in the Congo, and because of the meddling of the West, Mobutu amassed a huge personal fortune while reducing his nation and his people to poverty at the gain of the West. Lumumba is an inspiration to revolutionaries and anti-imperialists throughout the world as he had the courage to stand up and become a martyr for his country and spit in the face of those who had no business being in his country after June 30, 1960.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to learn about Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the newly independent Congo, who was assassinated in 1961, as well as his struggle against Belgian colonialism and neo-colonialism, this is not the book for you. Conspicuously absent here was Lumumba himself. Imagine reading a book about Martin Luther King Jr. that only barely touched on slavery, the Civil Rights movement and any of his speeches. Yeah. The only real sense you get of the Lumumba the man is at the very end, when the author quotes a letter he wrote to his wife from prison.

On the other hand, if you are already familiar with Lumumba as well as Congo history and politics, and you want a Pentagon Papers-like take on his assassination, this is the book for you. Or, if you are not intimidated by diving into a subject you are unfamiliar with, this could be the book for you. Such a reader (Me!) might initially feel unmoored, but if you stick with it you will pick up enough to infer the larger story looming in the background.

The focus of this work is narrow and straightforward, as laid out in the introduction: To prove that Belgium's leaders, and to a lesser degree the United Nations and other Western powers including the United States, are to blame for Lumumba's assassination and its subsequent coverup. Belgium's official line had been to blame Lumumba's pro-colonial African enemies for his murder and to insist Belgians wouldn't dream of interfering in Congo politics. The author argues that the Belgians were interfering all along to get rid of Lumumba, that indeed not only were they the puppet masters behind the curtain, they actually played a direct role in his murder.

And in case you're interested here's the excerpt from the letter Lumumba wrote to his wife from prison:

"History will one day have its say. It will not be the history taught in the United Nations, Washington, Paris or Brussels, however, but the history taught in the countries that have rid themselves of colonialism and its puppets. Africa will write its own history, and both north and south of the Sahara it will be a history full of glory and dignity."

It's enough to make me want to read more about Lumumba the man. Also recommended: King Leopold's Ghost and All the Shah's Men.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patrice Lumumba was a charismatic, commanding man with a revolutionary aura about him, cut down before he was able to exercise power long enough for anybody to be sure how he would have reshaped the world but those who knew him (and especially those who feared him) had no doubt he was a world-historical figure.

An example of this was during the ceremonial hand-off of power from the Belgian colonial power to the newly independent Congo. Lumumba, the first elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, wasn't scheduled to speak but after hearing the Belgian king say that "The independence of the Congo is the result of the undertaking conceived by the genius of King Leopold II," he rose and declared:

"During the 80 years of colonial rule, we suffered so much that we cannot remove the scars of the memory. We were forced into slave labor for wages that do not even allow us to eat enough to ward off hunger, or to find housing, or raise our children and loved ones who are ..."We have suffered ironies, insults and beatings just because we are black ... Who can forget the massacres of many of our brothers, or the cells in which they have put those who do not submit to oppression and exploitation? Brothers, this is the way our life has been."

Already considered dangerous, Lumumba shook the foundations of the post-colonial world and would have to be dealt with. De Witte is preoccupied with the Belgian role in Lumumba’s fall and death; his book is an indictment of what he considers an unholy alliance led by the Belgian government acting through well-paid Congolese stooges and enjoying the connivance of the American Central Intelligence Agency and the United Nations.

"The Assassination of Lumumba" sparked a parliamentary inquiry in Brussels which concluded that Belgium bears a "moral responsibility" responsibility for the assassination. It is not easy reading--De Witte spares few details in describing the torture, murder and corpse desecration that took place--but has a real ring of truth.

[Jeremy Vernon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lumumba should stand, towering over the consciousness of liberal progressives everywhere. Forget the starry-eyed Guevara with his puerile Communist fantasizing agit-prop. Lumbumba is a hero unlike we've seen and the story of his killing should be known the world over - the complicity of the United States, Russia, the UN and especially Belgium must be remembered.

De Witte's chronicalling is compelling, an admixture of true-crime and political drama, De Witte situates the murder of Lumumba in the struggle of the Cold War, the erosion of Empire and the ascent of the US through NATO and its attendant ultra-violent phobia of the left.

[Dr. Corey Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book I have ever read...It still resonates with me....One man had every group imaginable wanting him vanquished, but to degrade him I the streets while he was technically in power is mind blowing....

[Mariam · Rating 3 out of 5]

liked it but i wanted to know more about lumumba's life

[Evan Ottenfeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

“But humanitarian and ethical principles are only taken out of the legal cupboard when they serve *political objectives*...”

[Peter Banks · Rating 2 out of 5]

General events are very compelling, but author is clearly soooo engrossed in subject matter, and the coherence of the story suffers. So many names, and so detailed as to what each of these 20 plus characters may or may not have been doing at any particular moment, it’s a little hard to follow. Also not a whole lot of general context provided, aside from Katanga/South Kasai/Tshombe/Kasa Vubu/Mobutu = nefarious Belgian puppets, so it reads primarily like a murder mystery interjected with screeds against Neo-colonialism. Not to sound like a dimwit, but I would have absorbed this better if it were a movie.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal insight into the inner machinations of the west destabilising a country afer it had achieved its independence from a brutal colonial regime led by Belgium. Lumumba's political testmant was also incredibly moving and, obviously, a very fitting note to end on.

Remember everyone: it's only a democracy if foreign powers can install puppet dictators that push out democratically elected leaders (apparently this gives them the right to have them assassinated?) to get back to the old status quo and continue to extract precious resources to bring home to said foreign country to sell at a higher price and contribute to their economy!!!!!

[Ryan Smet · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hij hakt met de woestheid van zijn wraak de laatste halswervels door, grijpt de kop weer bij de haren, rukt het masker van zijn mond en spuwt in het stinkend gezicht. Dan gaat hij neerzitten in het vieze vocht dat het gras bezoedelde en snikt, het hoofd op zijn gekruiste armen."

[Cathal McGuinness · Rating 3 out of 5]

F**k Belgium and the U.N.

[Laura Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

moeilijk te lezen, maar eenmaal in het verhaal is het een goed boek

[Naeem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less a book and more a lawyer's brief. A tremendous amount of energy is required by the reader in order to stay with the details. Often ten pages is spent on a single day.

But it helps to realize the author's intent. This is the documentation with which de Witte hopes to convict Lumumba's assassins. Rarely do we get such a minute by minute, day by day, presentation of how the first world actors with the complicity of third world actors, guarantee the transition from colonialism to neo-colonialism.

We could only hope that a hundred more books like this one will document the active efforts of Europeans and the USA to strangle the hopes of the third world.

It is really up to the Europeans/USAers to make such cases.

[Luís · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant account of Western interventionism and neocolonialism in Congo to preserve their acces to the country natural resources while keeping control of the political arena. Very well written (English version), powerful message, through research and tremendously detailed into how Lumumba's assassination was carried out.

Highly recommended for those looking to learn more about the fascinating character of Patrice Lumumba, Congo and the Belgian interferences in their former colony.

[R. Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent historical account of a great leader. I found this book very interesting and the movie was great as well.

[Marc Lichtman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a hugely important book about the assassination of independent Congo's first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba. When the book first came out, it forced the Belgian government to carry out an investigation.

The assassination was carried out by the former colonial power, Belgium, with the assistance of the US-led United Nations. But it was welcomed by all the imperialist powers, especially the United States, which had its own assassination plan in the works.

To world imperialism (the most developed capitalist countries), independence would be a purely formal matter, with no change in the economic relationship with the ex-colonial and other imperialist powers. They would continue to exploit the natural resources of the Congo as well as its cheap (non-union) labor. This is how the world still works, with the exception of revolutionary Cuba. Only world revolution can change this state of affairs.

People interested in this book may also be interested in To Speak the Truth: Why Washington's 'cold War' Against Cuba Doesn't End, From the Escambray to the Congo: In the Whirlwind of the Cuban Revolution, By Any Means Necessary and Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power, Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution 1983–87, and Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism.

For what to do NOW, The Low Point of Labor Resistance is Behind Us: The Socialist Workers Party Looks Forward.

[Humza Hussain · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than 40 years after his death, Patrice Lumumba is still largely unknown in Africa's political histography. For many Africanists, Lumumba was a man who, without either a clear vision or a precise plan of action, carried away by vehement anti-colonialism, declared war on the West and rapidly sank into chaos of a Congo crisis he created himself. In their approach these Africanists reproduce the frame of reference of the Western rule of the day. They have no critical view of UN intervention, underestimate the role of Western interference and describe Lumumba as stubborn, unrealistic man, who made himself unacceptable to nascent Congoleses political class and Western fulcra. To others, Lumumba was a man who dreamed of a better world. As a martyr of independence, crucified by the West which did not want to part with its Congolese possessions. Their Lumumba is a tragic man, victim of a situation he did not control, he could never have controlled.

Patrice Lumumba totally broke away from the Congolese elite and its bourgeoise ambitions. He resolutely decided on real decolonization to benefit the masses. Over this period, Lumumba shaped a nationalism, which rested on three political pillars: revolutionary and coherent nationalism, political action relying on a mass movement, and an internationalist perspective. Lumumba's speech on 30 June 1960 symbolized a progressive, forward-looking nationalism over the old order.

The secession of Katanga was the West's prime weapon in its fight against Lumumba's government. Brussels had amputated Katanga from the body of the Congo in the hope that Leopoldville would not survive the operation. Later, when the Congo had been purged of its nationalists, an inverse movement could graft Leopoldville on to Katanga. The copper province's centre of economic gravity in the south, which is made up of a series of plateaux rising more than 1,000 metres above sea level. Their enormously rich subsoil was called a "geological sensation" by the Belgian scientist Jules Cornet at the end of the nineteenth century. The most important mines, most of Kantangan industry and the largest towns, Elizabethville, Jodotville an Kolwezi are located there. To ensure the export of Katangan riches, a railway line running parallel to its southern border linked its main towns with Rhodesia and Angola.

[vernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone already said something very similar, but this is not the book to read if you want to learn about Lumumba (or really even the best work for all of the geopolitical causes for his assassination). However, it is absolutely the book to read if you want to learn about the specific details and figures behind his assassination. Dense and short.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for primary source documents (telegraphs primarily) from Belgium, the U.S., and the U.N. role during the 'Congo crisis'. I.e., Congo's independence struggle and subsequent Mobutu 2nd Republic. Primary analysis is is focused on the coordination of the west from Lumumba's speech to the King to 1961. The book goes up to ~2001 though.

[Muta Enock Baisi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's amazing how quickly this kind of assassinations of African political leaders during the early 1960s and beyond are "forgotten" and the negative impact thereon aren't discussed at all in international forums.

[Bjorn Comhaire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ludo De Witte had een missie: hij wilde de betrokkenheid van de Belgische politiek bij de moord op Lumumba bewijzen.

Jarenlang doorsnuisterde hij documenten en archieven om zijn punt te maken en hij slaagt erin om aan te tonen dat een aantal mannen uit de Belgische politiek inderdaad mee achter de moord om Lumumba zaten. Alle respect daarvoor, of dat daarom ook goede lectuur oplevert is natuurlijk een andere vraag.
Vooral het eerste twee derde van het boek is ronduit saaie lectuur. De drang om bewijzen te tonen is zo groot dat De Witte zich soms verliest in heel gedetailleerde beschrijvingen van bronnen en opsommingen van details wat de leesbaarheid echt niet bevordert. Daarom is dit werk eigenlijk meer een soort rapport, een tot boek omgevormd onderzoeksdossier. Enkel voor liefhebbers dus.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The assassination of Patrice Lumumba carries some eerily similar aspects to the recent murder of Jamal Khashoggi... hacksaws... acid...Official UN recriminations that go nowhere...

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damning account of the crimes of colonial vampires.

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overwhelmingly thorough

[✨arrianne✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is approaching a textbook style of writing, and was definitely an easier read because I'd read a book about the Congo and Leopold II first, I think it would have been pretty impenetrable without. It is however, very informative, and was apparently the thing that caused the Belgian government to institute an enquiry into the events surrounding Lumumba's death.

Asks some interesting questions around post-colonial societies in Africa, and exactly how a lot of the Congo's current troubles stem directly from Belgium and the West protecting their financial interests and sacrificing the Congo to that.

[Tom Kenis · Rating 4 out of 5]

De Amerikaanse C.I.A. probeerde honderden keren de Cubaanse leider Castro om te brengen. De belangen van de Cubaanse bevolking, zoals Castro die zag, strookten niet met die van de Amerikaanse fruitbedrijven en casino's die in het land actief waren. De C.I.A. verwijderde in 1953 de Iraanse nationalist Mossadegh. In de plaats steunden ze een totalitair bewind dat wel naar de pijpen van het Westen dansen wilde. Hetzelfde recept werd wereldwijd talloze keren toegepast.
Ook in Congo smeedde de Amerikaanse inlichtingendienst plannen om de pas verkozen nationalistische leider Lumumba fysiek uit te schakelen. Uiteindelijk was het België, de kersverse ex-kolonisator, dat zijn bewind torpedeerde. Brussel steunde de afscheiding van het grondstofrijke Katanga, en van Zuid-Kasaï. Belgische officieren begeleidden de afzetting, gevangenneming, en overbrenging van Lumumba, naar het de facto Belgische protectoraat Katanga. Daar werd de eerst-verkozen premier van Congo door Congolese soldaten, onder bevel van Belgen, gefolterd en vermoord.
Het zou nog enkele jaren duren vooraleer een welwillend Congolees regime in het zadel zat, maar een daadwerkelijke onafhankelijkheid voor het Centraal-Afrikaanse land was hiermee in de kiem gesmoord.

Sinds oktober interview ik ter voorbereiding van 'Bacongo Limburg', een tentoonstelling die op 9 oktober van start gaat in Het Stadsmus in Hasselt, Limburgse ex-kolonialen (en Congolezen die zich in Limburg gevestigd hebben). Bijna stuk voor stuk jonge mensen toen, gezinnetjes die het avontuur tegemoet trokken. In alle menselijkheid en eerlijkheid: ik zou ook vertrokken zijn. Zonder verpinken. Ik zou evenmin beschikt hebben over het historisch perspectief die de vroege eenentwintigste eeuw voorziet om de scheve machtsverhoudingen te zien zoals ze echt waren, de Belgische kolonisatie in zijn werkelijke gedaante te ontwaren: de gedwongen netto-overdracht van rijkdommen van zij die niks hebben naar zij die al rijk zijn. Hetzelfde onevenwicht bestaat nog steeds, zij het in verschillende vormen, met andere protagonisten, nieuwe Lumumba's, talloos anoniem wroetend, nieuwe Moïse Tshombe's en Mobutu's.

[Sarah Phoenix · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first president of newly independent Congo was elected, overthrown and assassinated within approximately three months. There is no doubt in my mind that there was complicity in this action from the UN, the US, Great Britain and Belgium. While the exact manner of this is almost too horrific to comprehend it is certainly in line with the activities of the colonialism that had ruled and raped the countries of the continent for centuries.

The book was difficult to read and required a lot of re-reading as it was almost a textbook and at times required page flipping to get to a point where interest could be held again. Definitely worth the read and while I remember this occurring historically, I was only 14 at the time, and most of the historical value came later as the black history movement became an important part of my life.

[Richmond Apore · Rating 1 out of 5]

I simply couldn't read past the first couple of chapters. I had a lot of high expectations for this book, but sadly the author was more interested in the unnecessary pedantic European details, forgetting this book would undoubtedly be received overwhelmingly by the African audience. Little is touched upon on the life of Lumumba, in essence, the author doesn't try to make the martyr "human" instead attempts to go on with this project of a "well intricately engineered assassination" WITHOUT establishing why exactly this Lumumba figure was highly sought after by the West. The book was simply a chore to read.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read but is deeply focused on the literal assassination of Lumumba. I suppose they make it obvious in the title, but I expected to learn a bit more about Lumumba’s actual rise to power in this book. It’s a pretty damning indictment of the role of Belgium, UN and the US altogether of their roles in his murder.