The assassination of Patrice Lumumba: 50 years on, what future for the Congo?
“Africa will write its own history, and it will be, to the north and to the south of the Sahara, a history of glory and dignity.”
Jubilee Debt Campaign, Pambazuka News & Tipping Point Film Fund
Join us for a short documentary film, ‘Assassination: Colonial Style – Patrice Lumumba, an African Tragedy’, followed by a discussion with Firoze Manji from Pambazuka News and Vava Tampa from Save the Congo.
When? Monday 18th April, 7 – 9.30pm
Where? Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, EC2A 3EA
Admission? Free on the night – first come, first serve
50 years ago Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, was assassinated as part of Belgian and US plots only 10 weeks after he took power. The event has been described as “the most important assassination of the 20th century”.
Lumumba was a freedom fighter who overturned decades of brutal Belgian rule in the Congo and fought to give the Congolese people control over their own resources. His assassins handed DRC to the kleptocratic Mobutu regime which stole from and indebted the country, turning what should be amongst the richest countries in the world into one of the poorest.
Today, after one of the most horrific wars in modern history cost the lives of 4 million people, we assess the legacy of Patrice Lumumba and look at the hopes and prospects for DRC in the twenty-first century.
Entry is free.
More information is available from Jubilee Debt Campaign: 020 7324 4722 or info@jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk
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