Belgium has returned Congo’s independence hero, Patrice Lumumba’s tooth to his family on Monday at a private ceremony with Mr Lumumba’s relatives.
The tooth belonging to the murdered Congolese hero was handed over by Belgium’s federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw in the presence of Belgium’s prime minister and Congolese officials.
The ceremony was held at Egmont Palace in central Brussels, Belgium.
The decision to return the tooth comes after Belgium’s King Philippe expressed his “deepest regrets” for his country’s gross mistreatment in its former African colony, Congo.
On his first official trip to Congo earlier in June, the king informed his legislature that Belgian colonial rule was racist and inexcusable.
At a joint session of parliament in Kinshasa, the Monarch said, “Even though many Belgians invested themselves sincerely, loving Congo and its people deeply, the colonial regime itself was based on exploitation and domination. The regime was one of unequal relations, unjustifiable in itself, marked by paternalism, discrimination, and racism.”
About ten million Congolese were estimated to have died during the first 23 years of Belgium’s rule from 1885 to 1960 when King Leopold II reigned over Congo.
The hero’s tooth will be placed in a casket and flown to Congo.
Mr Van Leeuw said the legal steps they had taken to receive the relic had delivered “justice.”
