Why is Belgium handing over Patrice Lumumba鈥檚 tooth to the DRC?
The body of the Congolese independence hero was destroyed after he was killed by a firing squad. But a tooth, stolen as a trophy by a Gendarme, is now being returned to his family
鈥淗ere in our culture when you don鈥檛 see the body of someone, for the woman you can鈥檛 go back to sleep on the bed. You have to stay on the floor all the time. So this is what the family has gone through. For them that tooth is the body of their father鈥�.
Patrice Lumumba is a national hero in his native Democratic Republic of Congo. He became the country鈥檚 first prime minister at the age of just 35, after it won independence from Belgian rule in June of 1960. But less than a year later, he was overthrown, jailed and killed by factions reportedly supported by Belgium and the US.
Now a tooth, believed to have been stolen as a trophy by a Gendarme when his body was destroyed, is being returned to his family and the DRC.
Last week the Belgium monarch, King Philippe, expressed his 鈥榙eepest regret鈥� for colonial era abuses 鈥� but stopped short of formally apologising or offering reparations.
Presenter: Alan Kasujja (@kasujja)
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