On Tuesday June 7th, King Philippe of Belgium arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo for a historic visit of six days.
The Belgian monarch was accompanied by his wife Queen Mathilde, the Belgian Prime Minister, and two other ministers. This visit follows a letter sent by King Phillipe to the Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi in 2020, on the occasion of the former colony’s 60th anniversary of the independence, wherein he expressed his deepest regrets for the wounds of the past.
The royal couple started their visit in the capital city of Kinshasa where King Philippe held a speech outside the parliament and once again expressed regrets for Belgium’s colonial past. He declared “This regime was one of unequal relations, in itself unjustifiable, marked by paternalism, discrimination and racism. It gave rise to exactions and humiliations. The Congolese government maintains that this visit is an opportunity for reconciliation between the DRC and its former colonizers. In his speech, the Congolese president maintained that “The past is both glorious and sad (…), we want to look at the future”. The visit was met with mixed feelings by Congolese people as some wanted to see a true examination of the colonial past, which is often recognized as being one of the most brutal, and others demanded apologies and reparations for the suffering and pillaging that the colonial regime was responsible for.
Belgium’s King Leopold II became the absolute ruler of Congo in 1885 following the conference of Berlin where European imperial powers divided the African continent amongst them. Leopold II’s rule was extremely brutal as some 10 million Congolese perished from violence, famine, and diseases. One of the most recognizable heirlooms of the regime is the gruesome account of the dismemberment of children in villages that did not produce enough rubber to satisfy the colonial regime. Leopold II’s rule was so violent that the Belgium government took over the administration of the colony following multiple reports of deaths and abuse.
As a sign of reconciliation, the Belgian monarch brought back some art pieces which were stolen during the colonial era. The royal couple also visited Lubumbashi, the second most populous city and the second-largest economy in DRC. The royal couple finished their visit in the eastern city of Bukavu where they met the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Gynecologist Denis Mukwege. The eastern part of DRC has been an underbelly of political violence and instability for the past 30 years. As a result of this violence, gynecologist Denis Mukwege has become an outspoken advocate for women’s rights and a fighter against sexual violence and rape used as a weapon of war.
