Patrice Lumumba was the first democratically elected prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo after it gained independence from Belgium in 1960. However, he was very popular which threatened Western countries, and he accepted aid from the Soviet Union due to lack of support for removing Belgian forces. This led the US and Belgium to conspire to remove him from power. He was ultimately captured and assassinated with complicity from the CIA, Belgian officials, and others in 1961. His death helped consolidate the authoritarian rule of Mobutu Sese Seko and destabilized the DRC for decades.

1. Short Biography of Patrice
Lumumba: The Congolese
Crisis and its Outcome
By Worku Belachew

2. Short profile of Lumumba
Patrice Lumumba (1925-1961)
Led the struggle in the 1950s against
Belgian colonial rule in Congo and guided
his nation to independence in 1960.
He was the first and the only elected
premier of DRC (Cioffi, D. and Francis, A.
(2007)

3. Background
• Conquering in 1885, King Leopold II made Congo (Free State)
his private property until 1908 transfer to the Belgian
parliament.
• Lumumba made a struggle leading Mouvement National
Congolais (MNC). Used boycotts as strategy and finally
dragged to involve election and won a landslide vote that
eventually brought him to premiership while Joseph
Kasavubu,of the ABAKO (Alliance des Bakongo) was elected
President.

4. An noted by Cioffi, D. and Francis, A. (2007)…
Horrific tactics were used to force the Congolese people to
work on rubber plantations.
• Cutting hands
• Families were held as hostages to force men into the
fields.
By 1920, an estimated 10 million Congolese had died to
provide Europe with rubber and Belgium and Leopold
with profits.”

5. The independent Congo
• Though DRC enjoyed political freedom. Economy was
controlled big foreign mining and plantation companies
• Lack of education and managerial experience as well as
wealth problems crammed Lumumba’s administrative table.
• Moreover, the Belgian force concentrated in Congo worried
the Lumumba administration and sought their withdrawal.

6. • UN and US failed to support him on the withdrawal
of Belgian force.
• thus had to lean on Soviet Union, which provided
him with air planes, military trucks and
technicians.
• This soviet leaning, however, brew US and British
resentment. Conspiracy went both to depose and
assassinate him.
• The power struggle between elected president
Kasavubu and Patrice Lumumba opened window of
opportunity for CIA tactics to depose Lumumba.

7. Who conspired to oust and kill Patrice
Lumumba
• David lea member of the House of Lords in a
letter in response to a book review on the
history of MI6 entitled “Empire and Secrets:
British Intelligence, the Cold War and
the Twilight of Empire” by Calder Walton
witnessed that The British conspired on the
assassination of Lumumba.

8. Daphne Park, consul and first secretary in
Leopoldville, now Kinshasha, from 1959 to 1961,
which in practice meant head of MI6 told lea that
the British did involved.
Their reason: If pro imperialist took power, the
mineral would be taken by Soviet Union. And
she organized the abdication and murdering of
the prime minister. M16 refused to comment
on the allegation.

9. The US. active involvement (Church,F.
John,G.1976)
As it was documented on the 1975 Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence hearings, chaired by
Idaho Frank Church:
A senior level meeting involving President
Eisenhower and high ranking intelligence
officers held a meeting and decision was
reached to assassinate Patrice Lumumba.

10. Devlin, who served as a CIA field officer in
Congo during 1960 admitted as he has
received instructions to assassinate Lumumba
but he pointed out as he declined.
It is not far from our memory that CIA’s active
involvement destabilizing Africa and other
regions, see Prof. Alem Eshete’s THE C.I.A.
IN AFRICA.

11. • Devlin led two military coups by Mobutu Sese Seko, the U.S. strongman
in Congo. These coups took place in September 1960 against Lumumba
and in November 1965 in response to the power vacuum left by the
removal of secessionist Moise Tshombe who was later made prime
minister of Congo in 1964 after his divisive role in the mineral-rich region
of Katanga in 1960.
• President Eisenhower’s expression of strong concern about Lumumba at a
meeting of the Natonal Security Council on August 18,1960, was taken by
Allen Dulles as authority to assassinate Lumumba.
• The former CIA station chief justified his support of Mobuto saying that
it was correct for the U.S. to install an anti-communist dictator as a
bulwark against leftist influence in Congo. Later Devlin served as the
Africa Division Chief for the CIA. He worked for the Agency officially
until 1974.

12. • The Belgian cooperated with CIA, UK. and
M16 on the killing and deposal of Lumumba's
body.

13. Why the US. And UK. conspire
Generrally there seems two reason that hold water.
• 1. His magnetic appeal towards the public
They were sure that he can siege any opportunity to convince anyone.
According a cabe forwarded to Leopoldville from CIA.
• LUMUMBA TALENTS AND DYNAMISM APPEAR OVERRIDING FACTOR
IN REESTABLISHING HIS POSITION EACH TIME IT SEEMS HALF LOST.
IN OTHER WORDS EACH TIME LUMUMBA HAS OPPORTUNITY
• HAVE LAST WORD HE CAN SWAY EVENTS TO HIS ADVANTAGE. (CIA
Cable, Director to Leopoldville, g/13/60)
• Lumumba, a charismatic and popular organizer during the 1958- 1960
period, captivated the hearts and minds of the majority of his people and
the African continent during the struggle against Belgian colonialism.

14. • 2. His leanings to the Soviet Union
He demanded the Belgian force to withdrew
soon but they did not and sought backing
from the UN and us. us but it was the Soviet
Trucks, air fighters and technicians that arrived
the lumumba’s stronghold.

15. • CIA cable from Washington to Leopoldville present Kinshasa
EMBASSY AND STATION BELIEVE CONGO EXPERIENCING
CLASSIC COMMUNIST EFFORT TAKEOVER GOVERNMENT.
MANY FORCES AT WORK HERE: SOVIETS * * * COMMUNIST
PARTY, ETC. ALTHOUGH DIFFICULT DETERMISE MAJOR
INFLIJENCING FACTORS TO PREDICT OUTCOME STRUGGLE
FOR POWER, DECISIVE PERIOD SOT FAR OFF. WHETHER OR
NOT LUMUMBA ACTUALLY COMMIE OR JUST PLAYING
COMMIE GAME TO ASSIST HIS SOLIDIFYING POWER, ANTI-
WEST FORCES RAPIDLY INCREASING POWER CONGO AND
THERE MAY BE LITTLE TIME LEFT IN WHICH TAKE ACTION TO
AVOID ANOTHER CUBA. (CIA Cable. Lcopoldville to Director,
8/18/60 )
• They also conspired to physically eliminate Lumumba.

16. As noted by
Bustin,E. 2002
• a meeting attended by US Ambassador Clare Timberlake,
Mobutu, and President Joseph Kasavubu discussed
Lumumba's fate… and The Belgians, second to Katanga’s
government neither tried to resist the killing nor shown a sign
of regret.

17. Announcement of his death according
to Bustin,E (2002)
• Accounts of his death started to be revealed in
a week after his death and still continued over
the decades.
Commonalities between the books, news
paper and magazine articles .
• Some merely anecdotal
• Others openly partisan
• Most revealed his charismatic leadership

18. The United Nations Commission on
Investigation of Death of Patrice Lumumba
disclosed that he was killed immediately after
he was held by provincial gov’t of Katanga
and with the knowledge of the central gov,t. .
(U.N. Report, 11/11/61, pp. 100,117)

19. President Kasavubu’s regime
• Did not bring meaningful change in economic,
political and political aspects of the country.
• Faced military coup.
• Lieutenant General Joseph-Desire Mobutu
ousted president Kasavubu and Prime
Minister Tshombe in 1965.

20. • Mobutu’s regime too was characterized by
complete dictatorship.
• As clearly indicated by usnews.com
“Lumumba’s death served its “purpose” : it
bolstered the shaky regime of a formerly
obscured colonel named Joseph Mobutu.
During his three-decade rule Congo would
burst with natural resources into depth of
poverty. It took a civil war to oust him. And
Congo has seen little peace since.

21. Current crisis and its origins, Dagne,T (2011)
• The Congolese crisis has both internal and external
dimensions. The internal rolled from the Belgian
administration and rolled in to the present Joseph Kabila.
• The external has to do with DRC’s neighboring countries.
• The internal and external factors colluded and pushed the
country towards a Second Congo War, the world’s deadliest
conflict since World War II in August 1998.

22. • 1998 to 2003 the country suffered hugely with fighting between:
Congolese government supported by Angola, Chad, Sudan, Namibia
and Zimbabwe,
Congolese rebels backed by Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.
• Many other militia groups that claimed to be defender groups for
their community also became active participants in the conflict.
• A cease-fire agreement in 1999 and deployment of the UN
peacekeeping force in 2000 notwithstanding, the violent conflict
continued.

23. • Current crisis also originate from the presence
of over a dozen militia and extremist groups in
eastern Congo.
• Former Rwandese armed forces and
interhamwe militia used this place as safe
haven to carry out attacks inside Rwanda and
against Congolese civilians.
• In 2008 governments of Rwanda and Congo
entered agreemets on range of issue,
including fighting CNDP, FDLR which they
achieved in 2009.

24. Armed Groups in DRC, DagneT (2011)
• The National Congress for the Defense of the People
(CNDP)
• Received backings from Rwandans in Europe, America, Africa.
The United Nations, the United States, and some European countries have
imposed sanctions, including travel ban, on some FDLR leaders.
• The CNDP claims that its main objective was to protect the Tutsi population in
eastern Congo and to fight the FDLR.
• In October 2008 launched a major offensive against the DRC Armed
Forces (FARDC) in eastern Congo.
• After the Congo-Rwanda joint military offensive in 2009, the CNDP no longer
exists as a cohesive group. Many of its fighters have been reintegrated into the
Congolese armed forces and some may have joined other militia groups.

25. Democratic Forces for the
Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)
•
Over the past 15 years, elements of the former
Rwandan armed forces and the Interhamwe
militia were given a safe haven in eastern Congo
and have carried out many attacks inside Rwanda
and against Congolese civilians.
Analysts and officials in the region estimate their
number between 6,000 and 8,000, now led by the
most extremist leaders of the FDLR.

26. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)
• ADF forces were active in Beni district near the
Ugandan border. In June 2010, after consultations
between the governments of Uganda and DRC, the
Congolese armed forces launched a military
operation known as Rwenzori against the ADF and
its allies in Beni. The military operation dislodged
ADF forces but also displaced an estimated
100,000 Congolese civilians, according to U.N.
officials.

27. • Mai Mai Militia
The Mai Mai is a loosely grouped set of Congolese militia.
Has no unified or consistently articulated political demands
They actively target civilians and U.N. peacekeeping forces in
eastern Congo.
In early October 2010, Congolese and U.N. peacekeeping
troops in the DRC arrested Lieutenant Colonel Mayele
Cheka was arrested in North Kivu province, the leader of
a Mai Mai militia suspected of orchestrating mass rape.
More than 500 people were reportedly raped in July-
August 2010, according to U.N. officials.

28. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)
• Ugandan rebel force under the leadership of
Joseph Kony.
• Got backing from Sudan to wage war on
South Sudan and Uganda.
• Has presence in CAR and DRC Joseph kony
was killed on

29. Reference
• Dagne, T. (2011) The Democratic Republic of Congo:
Background and Current Developments. Congressional Research
Service.
Bustin,E. (Sep. - Dec., 2002) . Review of African Political
Economy State Failure in the Congo:Perceptions & Realities (Le
Congo entre Crise et Régenération) , Vol. 29, No. 93/94. pp. 537-
560. Taylor & Francis Group. ROAPE Publications Ltd.
• Shekhawat (2009). Governance Crisis and Conflict in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. Working Paper No. 6. Centre for
African Studies. University of Mumbai.
• http://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleleissue/mysries/pat
rice/htm
• Patrice Lumumba and the Struggle for African Independence
by Douglas Cioffi and April Francis

30. Abayomi Azikiwe (2013). The Role of MI6 in the Assassination of PatriceLumumba. Pan-African
News Wire. Retrieved on 25 December 2014 from http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-role-of-
mi6-in-the-assassination-of-patrice-lumumba/5330515.
Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Review of African Political Economy, Vol. 29, No. 93/94, State Failure in
the Congo:Perceptions & Realities (Le Congo entre Crise et Régenération) (Sep. - Dec.,
2002), pp. 537-560.
• Church,F. John,G.(1976). Alleged assassination plots involving foreign leaders.an . Interim report of the select
committee to study governmental operations with respect to intelligence activities united states senate
together with additional, and separate views.Washington DC. U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
•

31. Thanks for the
attention