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The
assassination of former Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is
hardly in the news these days. The visionary leader, who rose from
being a travelling salesman to holding the powerful office in the
Congo, was murdered in 1961 in what many termed a collaborative effort
between local and foreign forces.

For a character
bent on ensuring his native land’s independence from oppressive and
brutal colonialist forces, Lumumba was a likely hero for celebration at
the Lagos Black Heritage Festival. It was not surprising that his
murder and the conspiracy theories it gave rise to, would be revived at
the memory and performance-themed festival. A return to Lumumba’s life
and death came alive in Aime Cesaire’s poetic drama ‘A Season in the
Congo,’ which was staged at the Shell Hall of the MUSON Centre on
Sunday, April 4. Cesaire, the Martinican activist and author, was
himself a foremost commentator on African issues and a founder of the
Negritude movement.

The rise of Patrice

In the production
by Wole Oguntokun’s Renegade Theatre, Lumumba was brought to life
amidst song, dance and bloodshed, well not that they showed the
bloodshed anyway.

The play opens to a
Congo under Belgian colonial rule. Lumumba (Kenneth Uphopho), the
amiable beer salesman appears on the scene to satiate his countrymen’s
alcoholic needs. His eloquence and energy intimidates the guards who
say he’s one to look out for. They are not disappointed for in a matter
of weeks, Lumumba makes a meteoric rise to party stalwart and
eventually becomes the first Prime Minister of independent Congo.

On the day
independence is granted and he is sworn in as Prime Minister, Lumumba
outshines the President Joseph Kasa-Vubu (renamed Kala Lubu and acted
by Sola Roberts Iwaotan) who gives a weak and obsequious speech
thanking the Belgian royalty for their ‘kindness.’ The partying youth
whom Lumumba has encouraged to “do what you like as long as you do
something” cheer their outspoken hero. From that point on is the
beginning of the end for Lumumba’s government.

Beginning with the
Army’s anger over low wages, a crisis soon follows with the natural
resource rich Katanga region declaring independence. Both the Congolese
and Katanganese independence, according to this drama were deliberately
orchestrated by the Belgian colonialists to cause strife in Congo.

There is also
trouble in Lumumba’s camp. His wife warns him of Kasa-Vubu’s jealousy,
which Lumumba dismisses. “The people are my shield. What makes you
think I’m that easy to crush? You think I don’t have friends or
weapons?” Lumumba replies. Kasa-Vubu and Mobutu (renamed Mokutu in this
drama), Lumumba’s supposed allies, soon betray him.

Enter Hammarskjöld

In the midst of the
crisis, the United Nations sends its Secretary General, Dag
Hammarskjold to mediate. His involvement is more or less a worthless
interference. Hammarskjold on his first entrance introduces himself
thus: “I am a neutraliser.” What he neutralises is what we think we
find out at the end of the play. Is it conflicts, insurgents or heroes?
One is not sure, but he sure does neutralise something.

In one scene,
Hammarskjöld and Lumumba argue over the UN’s inaction. “You not only
not act, you also prevent us from acting,” Lumumba says to Hammarskjold
when the latter refuses to offer peacekeepers to help retrieve Katanga
from rebel hands.

Lumumba’s so-called
friends eventually see to his exit. Kala Lubu dissolves the government
in his power as president and Mokutu (Gbenga Adekanmbi) supervises a
group of soldiers, who kick Lumumba out of the Prime Minister’s
residence.

As happened in real
life, Lumumba and two of his comrades, Mpolo (Kanayo Okanni) and Okito
(Taiwo Adesoji) are killed at the end of this performance. The question
as always is ‘By whom?’ This performance tries to answer that question
to a large extent but one is never sure.

Who killed Patrice?

It is hard to
believe Kala Lubu and Mokutu when they say, “I told them to prune the
tree not to pull it off by its roots” and “I had no personal animosity
against him. What political expediency would make me do, political
expediency could make me undo.”

Whatever that
meant, history also points to Belgian authorities and the United
States’ Central Intelligence Agency as being involved. But if the
Ghanaian general deployed to oversee the Congo region during the crisis
is to be believed, “The Congolese will attend to it themselves.”

Eight months after
Lumumba’s assassination, Hammarskjold was once more on his way to the
Congo to end a crisis between UN forces and Katanganese troops when he
dies in a plane crash. His death also gave rise to its own fair share
of alternative theories, with many saying it was no accident.

Uphopho is sterling
in his role as Lumumba and also as co-choreographer with Mike Okorie of
the dance scenes. He is hardly audible at the start but ups his
projection as the play’s intensity increases and more energy is
required of him. Iwaotan shows he is at ease either as a tragic or
comic actor. Adekanmbi’s Mokutu should expect to be stoned on the
streets after his performance as the power addict that would also take
his turn at the reins of Congolese government. He oozed pure evil.

The ladies from the
group Nefertiti were the orchestra, who followed the play’s transition
from light to dark with their songs and sonorous voices.

The downside of this performance however included the technical
issues with poor or wrong lighting and delayed transitions. After
starting an hour and a half after its scheduled time, the performance
showed to a near-empty hall, perhaps due to poor publicity. None of
this though reduced the import of the pre and post-independence
politics that has influenced present-day life in the Democratic
Republic of Congo.