KINSHASA, DR Congo
Belgium’s King Philippe has
reaffirmed his “deepest regrets” for his nation’s colonial-era abuses in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, but stopped short of formally apologizing, again.King Philippe of Belgium, right, greets 100-year-old corporal Albert Kunyuku, the last surviving Congolese veteran of World War II during a ceremony at the Veterans Memorial in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wednesday June 8, 2022.
The king, who was in the Congo
on his first official trip to the country, told its legislature on Wednesday
that Belgian colonial rule was unjustifiable and racist.
“Even though many Belgians
invested themselves sincerely, loving Congo and its people deeply, the colonial
regime itself was based on exploitation and domination,” he told a joint
session of parliament in the capital, Kinshasa.
“This regime was one of
unequal relations, unjustifiable in itself, marked by paternalism,
discrimination and racism,” he said.
“It led to violent acts and
humiliations. On the occasion of my first trip to Congo, right here, in front
of the Congolese people and those who still suffer today, I wish to reaffirm my
deepest regrets for those wounds of the past.”
His speech comes two years
after he made similar comments on the 60th anniversary of Congo’s independence,
when he went further than any of his predecessors in condemning “acts of
violence and cruelty” during Belgian colonial rule.
By some estimates, killings,
famine and disease killed up to 10 million Congolese during the first 23 years
of Belgium’s rule from 1885 to 1960, when King Leopold II ruled the
Congo Free State as a personal fiefdom.
Villages that missed rubber
collection quotas were notoriously made to provide severed hands instead.
While some Congolese praised
the Belgian king’s remarks as brave, others were disappointed by the absence of
an apology.
“I salute the speech by the
Belgian king. However, in the face of the crimes committed by Belgium, regrets
are not enough,” Congolese opposition Senator Francine Muyumba Nkanga wrote on
Twitter.
“We expect an apology and a
promise of reparations from him. That is the price to definitively turn the
page,” she said.
Nadia Nsayi, a political
scientist specialised in Congo, said she sensed “a lot of nervousness in
Belgium regarding a formal apology as Congo might use it to demand financial
reparations”.
Others called it a
“distraction”.
“Belgium must ask for
forgiveness from the Congolese people but also compensate them,” said Francis
Kambale, a 26-year-old student living in Goma in the country’s east. “Our
grandparents were beaten like animals, others were killed. But also many
minerals and cultural goods were stolen by Belgium. This visit by the Belgian
king is a distraction. Congo does not benefit in any way nor does it improve
the economic conditions of the Congolese.”
Philippe arrived on Tuesday
with his wife, Queen Mathilde, and Prime Minister Alexander De Croo for a
week-long visit.
Congo President Felix
Tshisekedi and many politicians have enthusiastically welcomed Philippe’s
visit. As the king addressed legislators, large numbers of ruling party
supporters waved Belgian flags, and a banner hanging from parliament read: “A
common history.”
Tshisekedi said during a brief
news conference with De Croo that he was focused on boosting cooperation with
Belgium to attract investment and improve health care in Congo.
Relations had soured under Tshisekedi’s predecessor, Joseph Kabila, whom Brussels criticised for suppressing dissent and extending his time in power beyond legal limits.
“We have not dwelled on the
past, which is the past and which is not to be reconsidered, but we need to
look to the future,” Tshisekedi said.
Philippe earlier offered a
traditional mask of the Suku people to Congo’s national museum as an
“indefinite loan”. The mask has been held for decades by Belgium’s Royal Museum
for Central Africa.
Belgium has traditionally said
little about colonialism, and the subject has not been extensively taught in
Belgian schools.
By contrast, Germany last year
apologised to Namibia for its role in the slaughter of Herero and Nama
tribespeople more than a century ago, officially described it as genocide for
the first time and agreed to fund projects worth over a billion euros.
There have been the beginnings
of a historical reckoning in Belgium in recent years. During anti-racism
protests sparked in 2020 by the police killing in the United States of George
Floyd, demonstrators targeted statues of King Leopold II.
But there have been the
beginnings of a historical reckoning in recent years. During anti-racism
protests in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd by police in the United
States, demonstrators targeted statues of King Leopold II.
Belgium’s Parliament
established a commission soon after to examine the historical record. A
preliminary report published last year called for a more accurate understanding
of the colonial period, and the final report is expected this year.
De Croo said Belgium was
committed to an honest accounting of its past.
“We all know that, in that
long relationship between the countries, there was a period that was painful,
painful for the Congolese population,” he said. “I think it’s important to look
at that straight in the eyes.”
Belgium will also hand over a
tooth, suspected to be the only remains of Congo’s first prime minister Patrice
Lumumba, to his family this month.
The Belgian government took
partial responsibility in 2002 for the death of Lumumba, who was assassinated
by Belgian-backed secessionists in 1961.
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