How Lumumba’s murder prompted unspeakable trauma

Congo's first prime minister Patrice Emery Lumumba

Congo's first prime minister Patrice Emery Lumumba in this photo taken in New York on August 2, 1960. He was assassinated in January 1961. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • “Mr Lumumba – Congo’s first prime minister in 1960 – was murdered a year later in a military coup. Western powers are said to have done little to intervene after he asked the USSR to help put down rebels.”