RFI: You were close to Lumumba, even before independence. Here in Kisangani, you were even head of a section of his party, the MNC. Tell us about your first meeting with this hero of Congolese independence.
Léon Nkanga: It was an accident. I followed the Pan-African conference which was held in Ghana, in Accra. Lumumba was one of those who participated in this meeting and I was curious to hear and see him myself. He will also report on this pan-African conference.
He held meetings in Kisangani too. I worked in a bank. When I asked my boss to allow me to go and listen to Lumumba at his meeting, he categorically refused. He even threatened me: if I went, I risked being dismissed. I turned a deaf ear.
At the hotel where Lumumba’s first meeting was held, he explained to the audience why they had to ask for independence, what “independence” was.
That’s when we understood that independence meant change, being free because we were in a Belgian colony. And when he arrived at the delegation of the Wagenia Chiefdom, he was surprised to see that, among the natives of the city of Kisangani, there were only two people. There were not many of them. And he asked me the question: “Don’t you, the Wagenia, want independence?” I curtly answered him that there were many people who did not understand what independence was. He gave us a business card so that we could go and see him.
And on Saturday we went [chez lui]but it was difficult to get in. When I approached the door, the one there didn’t want me to even show him my business card. I was a little too young and I punched him in the nose. At that point, inside, [ils ont compris] that people were fighting. It was me who caused this incident and it was because of this incident that we were received.
Patrice Emery Lumumba was surrounded by secretaries, Mr Salumu Bernard, but also by Governor Jean-Pierre Finant. At that point he started explaining to us what independence was.
