Faith Nyasuguta
More than 60 years after Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba was brutally killed, Belgian prosecutors are now pushing to try a 92-year-old former diplomat, Etienne Davignon, over his alleged role in the murder that shocked the world.
Lumumba, Congo’s first prime minister and a powerful symbol of African liberation, was just 35 years old when he was executed in January 1961. His death followed months of political instability in the newly independent nation, now called the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Belgian authorities, representing the country’s former colonial ruler, are accusing Davignon of being involved in Lumumba’s unlawful detention, degrading treatment, and eventual transfer to the secessionist Katanga region, where he was executed by firing squad.
The Belgian prosecutor’s office made the announcement this week, noting that Davignon, who was a trainee diplomat at the time, is the last surviving suspect among ten Belgians previously accused of complicity. A magistrate will decide in January 2026 whether to put him on trial. Davignon has not yet made any public comment.
The push for accountability is part of a decades-long campaign by Lumumba’s family to uncover the truth and secure justice. His children filed a legal case in Belgium back in 2011. Responding to the new development, Lumumba’s daughter Juliana told Belgian broadcaster RTBF, “We’re moving in the right direction. What we’re seeking is, first and foremost, the truth.”
The story of Lumumba’s assassination remains one of Africa’s most painful post-independence betrayals. After leading Congo to independence from Belgium in 1960, Lumumba became a target of both Western powers and internal enemies due to his pan-African and anti-colonial stance. Within months, he was removed from office, captured, and transferred under Belgian pressure to the Katanga region – then seeking to secede.
On January 17, 1961, Lumumba and two of his close allies were executed by a Katangan firing squad. His body was secretly buried, then exhumed, hacked apart, and dissolved in acid to erase all traces. The only part that remained was a gold-crowned tooth, which was taken by Belgian police commissioner Gerard Soete, who admitted to overseeing the destruction of Lumumba’s remains. That tooth was eventually returned to Lumumba’s family in 2022.
A Belgian parliamentary inquiry in 2001 found that Belgium bore “moral responsibility” for Lumumba’s death, and the government formally apologized the following year. However, legal accountability has been elusive – until now.
At the time of Lumumba’s downfall, Congo was facing a deep political crisis. The mineral-rich Katanga region declared secession, supported by Belgium and Western interests. Belgian troops entered under the pretext of protecting citizens but helped prop up the Katangan leadership. Shortly after, army chief Joseph Mobutu seized power. Lumumba, already under house arrest, was re-captured, beaten during transfer, and ultimately killed.
Now, with a court date looming in early 2026, many hope that justice may finally begin to catch up with those involved. For Lumumba’s family and the Congolese people, the move is not just about punishing a nonagenarian – it’s about truth, history, and long-overdue accountability for the assassination of a national hero.
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