{"id":18005,"date":"2024-11-20T21:42:28","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T21:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18005"},"modified":"2024-11-20T21:42:28","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T21:42:28","slug":"false-alarm-over-dr-congo-heros-golden-tooth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18005","title":{"rendered":"False alarm over DR Congo hero's golden tooth"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"AFPAFP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The gold tooth was placed in this mausoleum after its return to DR Congo in 2022<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The gold-capped tooth of Patrice Lumumba, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s independence hero, is safe and has not been stolen, his daughter has told the BBC.<\/p>\n

The news comes as a relief to a nation gripped by fear that the only remains of the country\u2019s revered first prime minister had been swiped after his mausoleum in the capital, Kinshasa, was vandalised on Monday night.<\/p>\n

But Juliana Lumumba said previous concerns about the security of the site had prompted the family to move the tooth to a more secure location.<\/p>\n

The tooth was only returned to the Lumumba family by former colonial power Belgium two years ago – and had been placed in the special memorial building.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lumumba was much loved not just by many at home but across Africa for his outspoken criticism of colonialism – and he became an icon of pan-Africanism.<\/p>\n

He was seen as a symbol of change and hope after the harrowing years under Belgian rule, during which millions of Congolese people died or were brutalised.<\/p>\n

But within months of the country\u2019s independence from Belgium in 1960 he was toppled as prime minister.<\/p>\n

At the age of 35 he was shot by a firing squad in January 1961, with the tacit backing of Belgium.<\/p>\n

His body was then dissolved in acid, but Belgian police officer Gerard Soete, who oversaw the destruction, took the tooth as a macabre memento.<\/p>\n

The return of Lumumba’s gold tooth in June 2022 was a cause for celebration in DR Congo – and it was taken on a tour of the vast country so people could pay their respects.<\/p>\n

The vandalism of the mausoleum has caused outrage – and when Culture Minister Yolande Elebe Mandembo announced on Tuesday that an investigation had been launched, many feared the worst.<\/p>\n

Footage circulated showing that a glass door had been smashed to get access to the chamber where a coffin could be seen.<\/p>\n

But Ms Lumumba sought to reassure people on Wednesday – saying her father\u2019s tooth had not been there at the time of the break-in.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless she told the BBC she felt “anger and sadness” that her father’s grave had been disrespected.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"JelleJelle Vermeersch<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The gold tooth of Patrice Lumumba – pictured here in 2016 – had been preserved in a padded box by Belgian police officer Gerard Soete<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Now 69, she spent years lobbying Belgium for the return of the tooth.<\/p>\n

“Patrice Lumumba sacrificed himself for the sovereignty and independence of his country and the Congolese,” she said.<\/p>\n

“This is so unrepresentative of our culture, which respects the graves of our dearly departed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local authorities say four suspects have been arrested over the desecration, but their identities have not been made public.<\/p>\n

Ms Lumumba said the Lumumba Foundation wanted to take over management of the mausoleum because of security worries and had been lobbying the government to do so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AFP The gold tooth was placed in this mausoleum after its return to DR Congo in 2022 The gold-capped tooth of Patrice Lumumba, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s independence hero, is safe and has not been stolen, his daughter has told the BBC. The news comes as a relief to a nation gripped by fear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18005\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}