Patrice Lumumba’s tooth returned to DRC
Belgian authorities have returned the only body part left from late Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. It is a golden tooth which was retrieved after he was murdered and dissolved in acid for fighting colonialism on January 17th 1961.
Belgian authorities who held on to the tooth for over 6 decades say the tooth was taken from the daughter of a Belgian police commissioner in 2016. This commissioner is said to have overseen the dismemberment and then acid dissolution of Lumumba’s body in an effort to erase all traces of him from the surface of the earth.
The now famous gold-capped tooth has been returned to Lumumba’s family in a casket. This was at the Egmont Palace in Brusels on June 20th morning. The casket is at the DRC embassy in Belgium and will be repatriated soon.
Lumumba’s son Roland said last week that the return of the tooth meant his family would finally be able to “finish their mourning”.
Begian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo recognized it is the country’s moral responsibility to return this tooth and admitted this murder was a painful and disgusting truth that must be spoken.
