The Tooth – Patrice Lumumba and Congo’s Decolonization

The Belgian comic artists Pierre Lecrenier and Nicolas Pitz share their vision of the promising yet tragic journey of Patrice Lumumba, the great figure of Congolese independence, while highlighting Belgium’s ambiguous role in its colonial history.

Patrice Lumumba’s wife, Pauline, shares his struggles but holds no illusions about the white colonizers.

This remarkable graphic novel takes its name from a mysterious title for the uninitiated. It all began with a 1999 interview on German television, featuring Gérard Soete, a former police officer in Elisabethville (now Lubumbashi). After Katanga’s secession under Moïse Tshombé, Soete remained there and, before the cameras, displayed a bullet and two teeth he claimed to have taken from Lumumba’s body.

That same year, Belgian historian Ludo de Witte published The Murder of Patrice Lumumba, asserting that the assassination was carried out with — at the very least — the blessing of Belgian political authorities. The book caused a national scandal, leading to a parliamentary investigation in Belgium.

Using that shocking 1999 interview as both entry and conclusion, Pitz and Lecrenier’s comic avoids firm claims about the still-controversial assassination of Congo’s first Prime Minister on January 17, 1961, focusing instead on the roots of decolonization as developed by Lumumba himself — his political rise and his tragic fall, always accompanied by his devoted wife Pauline Opango.

Born in Onalua into the Tetela ethnic group, Lumumba was part of a tiny elite known as “Les Évolués”, treated with relative respect by Europeans. A self-educated intellectual, journalist, and gifted orator, he became a passionate advocate for social justice, Pan-Africanism, and African unity.

After years of struggle — from imprisonment to international recognition — Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the newly independent Congo on June 30, 1960. His time in power was brief, undermined by internal tensions, Katanga’s secession, and the pressure of Belgium, France, and the United States.

From Stanleyville (Kisangani) to the forests of Katanga, from Brussels to his birthplace Onalua, the graphic novel retraces Lumumba’s extraordinary journey, portraying both the idealism and betrayal that shaped a nation’s first steps toward freedom.

The Tooth is ultimately an exploration of memory, justice, and humanity — a reminder that decolonization was not only a political process but also a profound human struggle for dignity and expression through the universal language of art.

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