As a result of strong pressure from delegates upset with Lumumba’s trial, he was released and allowed to attend the Brussels conference. The conference culminated on January 27 with a declaration of Congolese independence, setting June 30, 1960, as the independence date with national elections from May 11-25, 1960. Lumumba and the MNC won this election and the right to form a government, with the announcement on 23 June 1960 of 34-year-old Lumumba as Congo’s first prime minister and Joseph Kasa-Vubu as its president. In accordance with the constitution, on 24 June the new government passed a vote of confidence and was ratified by the Congolese Chamber and Senate.
In contrast to the relatively harmless speech of President Kasa-Vubu, Lumumba’s reference to the suffering of the Congolese under Belgian colonialism stirred the crowd while simultaneously humiliating and alienating the King and his entourage. Some media claimed at the time that he ended his speech by ad-libbing, Nous ne sommes plus vos macaques! (We are no longer your monkeys!)—referring to a common slur used against Africans by Belgians, however, these words are neither in his written text nor in radio tapes of his speech. Lumumba was later harshly criticised for what many in the Western world—but virtually none in Africa—described as the inappropriate nature of his speech.
A few days after Congo gained its independence, Lumumba made the fateful decision to raise the pay of all government employees except for the army. Many units of the army also had strong objections toward the uniformly Belgian officers; General Janssens, the army head, told them their lot would not change after independence, and they rebelled in protest. The rebellions quickly spread throughout the country, leading to a general breakdown in law and order. Although the trouble was highly localized, the country seemed to be overrun by gangs of soldiers and looters, causing a media sensation, particularly over Europeans fleeing the country.
In September, the President dismissed Lumumba from government. Lumumba immediately protested the legality of the President’s actions. In retaliation, Lumumba declared Kasa-Vubu deposed and won a vote of confidence in the Senate, while the newly appointed prime minister failed to gain parliament’s confidence. The country was torn by two political groups claiming legal power over the country.
On September 14th, a coup d’état organised by Colonel Joseph Mobutu incapacitated both Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu. Lumumba was placed under house arrest at the Prime Minister’s residence, although UN troops were positioned around the house to protect him. Nevertheless, Lumumba decided to rouse his supporters in Haut-Congo. Smuggled out of his residence at night, he escaped to Stanleyville, where his intention apparently was to set up his own government and army.
Pursued by troops loyal to Mobutu he was finally captured in Port Francqui on 1 December 1960 and flown to Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) in ropes, not handcuffs. Mobutu claimed Lumumba would be tried for inciting the army to rebellion and other crime
United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld made an appeal to Kasa-Vubu asking that Lumumba be treated according to due process of law. The USSR denounced Hammarskjöld and the Western powers as responsible for Lumumba’s arrest and demanded his release.
The UN Security Council was called into session on December 1960 to consider Soviet demands that the UN seek Lumumba’s immediate release, the immediate restoration of Lumumba as head of the Congo government, the disarming of the forces of Mobutu, and the immediate evacuation of Belgians from the Congo. Hammarskjöld, answering Soviet attacks against his Congo operations, said that if the UN forces were withdrawn from the Congo “I fear everything will crumble.”
The threat to the UN cause was intensified by the announcement of the withdrawal of their contingents by Yugoslavia, the United Arab Republic, Ceylon, Indonesia, Morocco, and Guinea. The pro-Lumumba resolution was defeated on December 14, 1960 by a vote of 8–2. On the same day, a Western resolution that would have given Hammarskjöld increased powers to deal with the Congo situation was vetoed by the Soviet Union.
Lumumba was sent first on December 3rd, to Thysville military barracks Camp Hardy, 150 km (about 100 miles) from Léopoldville. However, when security and disciplinary breaches threatened his safety, it was decided that he should be transferred to the State of Katanga, which had recently declared independence from Congo.
Lumumba was forcibly restrained on the flight to Elizabethville (now Lubumbashi) on January 17, 1961. On arrival, he was conducted under arrest to Brouwez House where he was brutally beaten and tortured by Katangan and Belgian officers, while President Tshombe and his cabinet decided what to do with him.
Later that night, Lumumba was driven to an isolated spot where three firing squads had been assembled. The Belgian Commission has found that the execution was carried out by Katanga’s authorities.
It reported that President Tshombe and two other ministers were present with four Belgian officers under the command of Katangan authorities. Lumumba and two ministers from his newly formed independent government (and who had also been tortured), Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, were lined up against a tree and shot one at a time. The execution probably took place on January 17. 1961.
No statement was released until three weeks later despite rumors that Lumumba was dead. His death was formally announced on Katangan radio, when it was alleged that he escaped and was killed by enraged villagers.
After the announcement of Lumumba’s death, street protests were organized in several European countries; in Belgrade, capital of Yugoslavia, protesters sacked the Belgian embassy and confronted the police, and in London a crowd marched from Trafalgar Square to the Belgian embassy, where a letter of protest was delivered and where protesters clashed with police. A demonstration at the United Nations Security Council turned violent and spilled over into the streets of New York City.