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Thomas Kanza, the ambassador of Patrice Lumumba's government to the United Nations in 1960, died on Monday, Oct. 25, 2004 in London, the victim of a sudden heart attack while returning to his latest post as the Democratic Republic of Congo's ambassador to Sweden.
Ambassador Kanza was the Congo's first graduate from a university, the product of an educational system that for 80 years of patronizing and paternalistic control by the Belgian Catholic Church had made the awarding of a diploma to an African student an exception rather than the rule. The Church's pretentious dilatory curriculum produced less than a dozen university graduates by the time the country approached its independence, the small number of graduates being conveniently displayed as Belgium's evidence that the Congolese were not ready for independence. But if Ambassador Kanza was the only example the Congo could point to as being successful, then he would still be a shining example for Congolese youth to strive to emulate. The Congo's career diplomat extraordinaire, he still was representing his nation at the time of his death, Mr. Kanza was buried on Friday, Nov. 5th in Britain, according to a report on the DRC's website (digitalcongo.net). The name Thomas Kanza burst on the international scene when he was chosen by his country's prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, to represent the newly founded Democratic Republic of the Congo when it finally became independent on June 30, 1960. But within a week the DRC would be engulfed by a destabilization campaign initiated by the Belgian government in Brussels, with support from its western allies. Neither Belgium nor the U.S., France, Britain, Portugal et al wanted to surrender the vast, extremely resource rich and geostrategically important country back to the its indigenous people, the Congolese. After all, Belgium, in league with its western European and U.S. partners, had benefited royally since the country had been given to King Leopold II in 1885 and later the Belgian government and jointly exploited by western countries and companies who flocked to the Belgian Congo in 1908.
Ambassador Thomas Kanza was a Congolese statesman, educator and author, who was one of most world renowned figures identified as a representative of the struggle led by Patrice Lumumba. After Lumumba's government was deposed...