Patrice Lumumba was a leader of the independence struggle in
what is today the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the
country's first democratically elected prime minister. After a
meteoric rise in the colonial civil service and the African
political elite, he became a major figure in the decolonization
movement of the 1950s. Lumumba's short tenure as prime minister
(1960-1961) was marked by an uncompromising defense of Congolese
national interests against pressure from international mining
companies and the Western governments that orchestrated his
eventual demise.
Cold war geopolitical maneuvering and well-coordinated efforts by
Lumumba's domestic adversaries culminated in his assassination at
the age of thirty-five, with the support or at least the tacit
complicity of the U.S. and Belgian governments, the CIA, and the UN
Secretariat. Even decades after Lumumba's death, his personal
integrity and unyielding dedication to the ideals of
self-determination, self-reliance, and pan-African solidarity
assure him a prominent place among the heroes of the
twentieth-century African independence movement and the worldwide
African diaspora.
Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja's short and concise book provides a
contemporary analysis of Lumumba's life and work, examining both
his strengths and his weaknesses as a political leader. It also
surveys the national, continental, and international contexts of
Lumumba's political ascent and his swift elimination by the
interests threatened by his ideas and practical reforms.
General
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