On the second day of his visit, the King of Belgium returns a mask to the DR Congo

Published on: 08/06/2022 – 13:33 King Philippe solemnly returned a traditional mask to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, hoping to mark a new start in relations between Belgium and its former colony. A second day of travel under the sign of memory and reconciliation. King Philippe of Belgium returned Wednesday, June 8 to the Democratic Republic of Congo a mask taken from the time of colonization and decorated a veteran of the former Belgian Congo. The King of the Belgians and his wife, Queen Mathilde, are arrived Tuesday afternoon in Kinshasa for a six-day visit to the DRC at the invitation of President Félix Tshisekedi, the first since that made by his father Albert II in 2010. It has a strong symbolic significance. Two years ago, on June 30, 2020, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of independence, King Philippe had expressed in a letter to Felix Tshisekedi his “deepest regrets” for the “wounds” of colonization, a historical first. He then regretted the “acts of violence and cruelty” committed at the time when his ancestor Leopold II had made the Congo his personal property (1885-1908), before the half-century of presence of the State Belgian in the huge country of Central Africa. Some Congolese want to see the beginning of a “new partnership”, while others are still demanding apologies and reparations for the suffering endured and the “looting” of the wealth of the DRC. The thorny issue of compensation for victimsThe second day of the royal trip began at the Memorial to Veterans, where the sovereign awarded a decoration to the last surviving Congolese veteran of the “Belgian Public Force” who participated in the Second World War.The Corporal Albert Kunyuku, who has just celebrated his 100th birthday, was drafted in 1940 and was part of the military medical support contingent sent to Burma in 1945. Sitting on a chair, the old man shook hands for a long time and exchanged a few words with the king leaning towards him. “The king has just made me some promises. It’s very good. We have to materialize them,” Corporal Kunyuku told the press afterwards. “Decorating is good. But, we must also compensate the families of these former fighters who lost their lives in a war that did not concern them”, comments in the street just next to Madeleine Yowa, a 43-year-old nurse. Marie-Thérèse Bakuku, 73, a seller at the neighboring Gambela market, even speaks of “hypocrisy” and is also asking for “substantial compensation” for their descendants. Restitution of works of artThe king then went to the National Museum of the DRC (MNRDC), a recent establishment financed by South Korean funds. Dedicated to the cultural history of the country, it houses masks, utensils, musical instruments, etc. This visit made it possible to address the question of the return of works of art to the former colony, for which the Belgian government has defined a roadmap in 2021. The sovereign presented the museum with a giant “kakuungu” mask , which was used for initiation rites of the Suku ethnic group. This object, he said, is lent for an “unlimited” period to the MNRDC by the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, near Brussels. “Our works were taken away by the colonizer, it is legitimate that ‘they are returned to us,’ comments Louis Karhebwa, a 63-year-old entrepreneur, “happy” with the king’s arrival in the DRC. “A people recognizes itself through its culture,” he told AFP. “Restitutions are part of our cultural reappropriation and our identity,” said Prince Pungi, a young civil servant. According to him, “the Congo is changing, moving forward”, so “it’s time to take back what belongs to us”. After a welcoming ceremony at the Palais de la Nation, official residence of the President of the DRC, the Congolese Head of State and the King of the Belgians will meet on the esplanade of the People’s Palace, seat of Parliament. King Philippe is to deliver the first speech of his trip there. The second is scheduled for the Lubumbashi (southeast) stage of his journey, Friday in front of students. The king will finally go to Bukavu (South Kivu), in the east of the country torn apart by nearly three decades of armed violence. With AFP