Sixty years since historic Lumumba speech launched Congo independence

Seen here in 1960, Patrice Lumumba had two and half months as prime minister before being ousted and executed in January 1961. [AFP]

When the Democratic Republic of Congo celebrates 60 years of independence from Belgium on Tuesday, it will also remember Patrice Lumumba, one of its enduring national heroes and icon of those who demand that former colonial powers face up to their history.

Lumumba, a leading member of the independence movement, entered the history books on June 30, 1960, the day that the Republic of Congo, as it then was, formally broke away from Belgian colonial rule.