Lumumba Speaks: The Speeches and Writings of Patrice Lumumba, 1958-1961

454 Pages·1972·18.272 MB·English

by  Jean Van Lierde (ed.), Helen R. Lane (trans.)

Lumumba speaks : the speeches and writin
DT663.L8 .A2.513. 1_972 11664
Lumumba, Patrice,
NEW COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA (SF)
DT Lumumba, Patrice
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1972
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translated from the French by Helen R*
Lane introduction by Jean-Paul
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Little, Brown, cl972.
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vi, 433 p* map 22 cm*
Translation: o±: La; pensée politique
de Patrice Lumumba*
#9824 Gilt:Cole $ * *
ISBN 0-316-53650-4
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1* Zaire Politics and government.
I* Title
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LUMUMBA SPEAKS

LUMUMBA
SPEAKS
The Speeches and Writings
of Patrice Lumumba, 1958-1961
Edited by Jean Van Lierde
Translated from the French by Helen R. Lane
Introduction by Jean-Paul Sartre
Little, Brown and Company- Boston-Toronto
@
COPYRIGHT 1963 BY ÉDITIONS PRESENCE AFRICAINE
@
TRANSLATION COPYRIGHT 1972 BY LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY, INC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED
IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL MEANS IN-
CLUDING INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS WITHOUT
PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER, EXCEPT BY A REVIEWER
WHO MAY QUOTE BRIEF PASSAGES IN A REVIEW.
FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDITION
T10/72
LibraryofCongressCatalo^nginPublicationData
LuBiumba, Patrice, 1925-1961.
Lumiunba speaks.
Translation of La pensée politique de Patrice
Lumumba. —
1. Zaire Politics and government. I. Title.
DT663.L8A2513 967.5'1'03 72-3908
ISBN 0-316-53650-A
Publishedsimultaneously in Canada
byLittle,Brown & Company {Canada) Limited
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Preface
We
have brought together in this volume almost all of the impor-
tant speeches and lectures delivered by Patrice Lumumba between
December 1958 and his death in January 1961.
We
have left these texts in chronological order so as to show the
reader more clearly the extremely rapid political evolution of one
country, the former Belgian Congo, which passed from domination
by a colonialist regime to independence in a period of less than
four years.
This anthology of texts by Patrice Lumumba sheds clear light on
the history of that decolonization; we hear the voice of a man who,
from the very beginning of Congolese political life, was unquestion-
ably its most outstanding spokesman.
We
shall not trace the story of his life; others have already en-
We
deavored to do so. have intentionally chosen to present only his
spoken words and certain documents representing the stands he
We
took aspoliticalevents unfolded. haveprovided brief explanatory
passages that will enable the reader to see the particular circum-
stances under which his remarks were made. For the detailed history
of the facts themselves, special works must be consulted, the five
volumes entitled Congo 1959, Congo i960, and Congo 1961, for
instance, published by the Centre de Recherche et d'Information
Socio-Politiques in Brussels.
We
thank the center for having assembled the great majority
of these documents and for having passed on to us the texts of
recorded speeches not previously published.
VI PREFACE
Patrice Lumumba was born on July 2, 1925, in Onalua, in the
Katako-Kombe District of Sankuru, Kasai. He belonged to the
Otetela Tribe. A third-class clerk in the District Revenue OfEce of
the Postal Service, he began in 1952 to write for such periodicals as
La Croix du Congo and La Voix du Congolais, to direct cultural
clubs and groups, and to collaborate with researchers conducting
scientific studies. Active first in the Cercle Libéral and later in the
Association du Personnel Indigène de la Colonie (the labor move-
ment of Congolese government employees), in October 1958 he was
one of the founders of the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC,
the Congolese National Movement), the first great supra-ethnic
party in the Congo. At this time the only other party was the Abako,
led by Joseph Kasavubu, which brought the Bakongos together on
an ethnic basis in the province of Leopoldville.
December 1958 was the first date of major political importance
in the Congo, for at this time Lumumba, Diomi, and Ngalula took
part in the Accra Conference. There then followed the uprising of
January 4, 1959, and the dazzling beginnings of the campaign to
politicalize the country, which soon spread from one end of the
Congo to the other and eventually won it its independence on June
30, i960. Then a series of tragic events ensued, beginning on July 7
with the rebellion of the Force Publique* and the severing of
diplomatic relations with Belgium, which was proclaimed an "ag-
gressor."
Amid this unbelievable turmoil, Lumumba proved to be a more
passionate orator than ever. The latter half of this volume traces
the events of this period of great unrest that was to end in his tragic
death.
Lumumba was murdered in Katanga on January 17, 1961.
Jean Van Lierde
* See note, page 10.