The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has honoured independence hero Patrice Lumumba, marking 60 years since his assassination in a plot linked to the fledgeling country’s colonial master, Belgium.
President Felix Tshisekedi on Sunday paid tribute to the charismatic political leader at a site in the capital, Kinshasa, where a memorial is to be installed in his honour.
Lumumba became the country’s first democratically elected prime minister after independence from Belgium in 1960. His government lasted just three months before he was overthrown and assassinated by firing squad.
Lumumba’s body will never be recovered, however. Shot by Katangan separatists and Belgian mercenaries on January 17, 1961, during the first, chaotic months of independence, his body was dissolved in acid.