A LETTER TO PATRICE LUMUMBA
Dear brother Patrice:
Mbote. Sango nini?
Sorry to take you back on a memory lane, unpleasant as it will surely be. Yours was an insurmountable struggle against foreign transnational mineral companies on one hand and your fellow Congolese brothers doing the bidding of the foreigners on the other. (The foreign entities were not fighting Communism. No, it was just pure unadulterated greed.)
Strong foreign powers have always used the United Nations to foster their ambition of world domination. You just happened to be at the right place but wrong time like your brothers Saddam, Qaddafi, etc., you know who I am talking about.
Today, we are pushing 60 years since your untimely demise at the hands of your very own brethren who were promised crumbs out of the enormous wealth that still lies under your beautiful country. This wealth, be it oil, gas, precious stones, valuable and rare minerals, etc., is still a curse to all weak nations of the world.
Well brother, I just wanted to let you know (as if you didn't know it already) that the neighbouring country of your pal Nyerere, now called Tanzania (TZ), is currently going through tumultuous times, not unlike the Congo of your time.
Precious minerals and stones have always been sought by these multinational entities, and TZ has plenty of them and then some. These entities have now set shops in the country with very lucrative contracts. These contracts benefit these foreigners and few crumbs are thrown at the big wigs of the country.
Literally, these multinationals are pillaging the country clean. These days they even take dirt in containers and ship it out of the country, leaving huge and deep open pits in the ground.
As if this is not enough, now TZ has gas, yes gas, a lot of it. Maybe soon they will have oil too. This situation has made the country (TZ) a big target for top multinationals of the world.
MAGUFULI
There is one problem though in the impending saga between TZ and these powerful OIL, GAS, MINERAL conglomerates. There is this young man, I call him "young man" because he was only 2 years old (a toddler) when those savages in the Congo excecuted you. His name is John MAGUFULI. Oooh brother, you would have loved him. He is a firebrand, very much like yourself.
This man has embarked on a war against these thieving foreign entities. He has vowed to control the mineral business so that the bulk of the country's wealth benefits the citizens. However, his effort is becoming a Herculean task day by day because his very own sisters and brothers are against him and, apparently, for these thieving foreigners. I dare say, his situation is very much like your situation in the late 50s and early 60s. This worries me a lot. I think the man has very few friends left now and it is only the 2nd year of his (potentially) 10 year rule.
If you get a chance Sir, could you please put a good word to the Almighty for him? He needs His guidance now more than at any other time in his life.
Enchanted talking to you, Sir. May you Rest In Peace.