Download ZENI_250_Essay_African_History

Patrice Emery Lumumba was an elected Congolese Prime minister of The republic of
Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in1960. Patrice Lumumba
ruled Congo from the twenty fourth of June 1960 up until the fourteenth of December
1960. However, a year after Lumumba left his office in 1960, he was murdered on the
seventeenth of January 1961. Interestingly, many political and historical critics link
Lumumba’s mysterious death to his actions as Prime Minister.
This is demonstrated with the speculation of corruption towards Lumumba's practices
as Prime Minister of Congo. Lumumba created a rebellious revolt from Congolese
civilians and solders by raising the pay raising the pay of all Government employees
except from the army. Thus, this act of corruption and injustice combined with
Lumumba's mysterious death not only painted the historical legacy of Lumumba as an
unjust political figure but also paints African political history as corrupt, immoral and
to some extent unable to cope without colonial supervision. However, playwrights
like Thomas Igu take not only African figures but more importantly African history in
order to dramatise significant events within African History.
This is demonstrated within Thomas Igu's The Last Days of Lumumba where Igu
dismantles the corrupted and unjust depiction of Congolese political history with
captivating imagery. This is evident when Lumumba is hailed as a Christ like figure
within The Last Days of Lumumba. Here, Igu not only informs global readers of the
positive political impact Lumumba had on the country but also presents Lumumba as
a three dimensional character as oppose to the corrupted version one may have
anticipated due to the propaganda within and about African Politics.