Roland-Gilbert Okito Lumumba, the youngest son of Democratic Republic of Congo independence hero Patrice Lumumba, has died in the capital, Kinshasa, at the age of 67 following an illness.
Trained as an architect, Roland-Gilbert Okito Lumumba served as a Member of Parliament for nearly a decade and remained a prominent defender of his father’s political and ideological legacy.
Patrice Lumumba, Congo’s first prime minister after independence in 1960, was removed from office within months and assassinated in 1961 by secessionist forces backed by Belgium. In 2002, the Belgian government formally apologised for its role in his killing, and two decades later returned a tooth to the Lumumba family—the only known physical remains of the slain leader.
Roland-Gilbert devoted much of his life to the pursuit of truth, justice and historical accountability surrounding his father’s assassination, advocating for the Congolese people’s right to know the full circumstances of one of the country’s most painful chapters.
His death comes as legal proceedings related to Patrice Lumumba’s murder continue in Belgium, symbolising the unfinished quest for justice more than six decades after the crime.
Following Lumumba’s assassination, Congo descended into decades of dictatorship under Mobutu Sese Seko, who seized power in a 1965 coup and ruled the country until his overthrow in 1997.
