Mr President of the Court of History,

I come from the provinces, and the word "province," as you well know, comes from the Latin "pro-vincis," which basically means "for the defeated," the capital being considered the home of the victors. So it's a privilege for me to be here in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC. Kinshasa, the city of all powers, savored to the point of vertigo. Kinshasa, the city of all pleasures. Kinshasa, the city of all knowledge, capable of interpreting the constitution in all directions and even against it. Long life to independence!

Mr President of the Court of History,

In the 1960s, the word "independence" in Africa meant the departure of the whites, the promise of a better world, and the dream of endless happiness. But today, 60 years on, this trial must open with a fundamental question: was African independence really worth winning? The colonized will answer "yes," because, on balance, colonisation was inhumane and degrading, not to mention a vast plundering of raw materials. The colonizer, on the other hand, will answer "no," to a certain extent, because in the final analysis, the post-colonial period was nothing but a disappointment, a disenchantment, a waste and chaos for Africa.

Basically, each of the parties is right. Perhaps right to be wrong. But be that as it may, I must remind you that the rigor of a trial hardly allows anyone to justify their own crimes by those of others. This is why it seems absurd to me that the colonizer should evoke post-colonial chaos to justify his own barbarity and thus ease his conscience. What's more, we all know that this colonizer, who never really left, continues to play his sinful role in this post-colonial chaos that he blames us for. The assassination of Lumumba, Sankara and other African patriots is eloquent proof of this. F. Conan used to say: "If the black man can't stand up, let him fall; all I ask is that you don't prevent him from standing up."

I know people will tell me that there is a certain nostalgia for colonization on the part of the elders. Of course, but this is never more than a cry of despair, such as it was heard in the ranks of Israel. And it just so happens that people call out to Lumumba as they did to Moses: "Why didn't you leave us in the Egyptian colonization, at least we ate there."

J.J. Rousseau was right when he said: "Slaves lose everything in their chains, even the desire to get out of them." In short, colonization was an evil, and don't listen to those who go out of their way to qualify this assertion and who have only a soft idea of colonization. There is an enormous difference between experiencing colonization and simply having an idea of it.

Mr President of the Court of History,

After this implacable indictment of colonization, I have to admit that in the end the only argument that would have been worth saying that African independence was worth winning would have been to see Africa show the world that its countries are more beautiful than before. In this respect, the record is shameful.

Since independence, only political instability has remained stable; social inequalities have remained the same; republics have remained monarchical; democracies have remained dictatorial. In short, we have invented irrational rationality, and we live in the kingdom of all paradoxes. So we sail from consequences to inconsequence; we no longer understand anything. We see pure souls, challenged by poverty, get elected into politics, but once in office, they are given ‘Machiavelli’ to read, and in the solemnity of the capital great days and banquets, they discover bourgeois cynicism and contempt for the little people, contempt for the people. And when reminded of the urgent need to address the issue of poverty, they respond: "Jesus himself said that there will always be poor people!” And the more daring go even further, reminding, "Kennedy said: ask not what your country is doing for you, but what you can do for your country!”

My goodness! If the tree knew what the axe had in store for it, it wouldn't provide the handle. If the people knew what their elected representatives had in store for them, they wouldn't vote for them. Montesquieu said: "The greatest evil done by a minister without probity is not to serve his prince and to ruin his people; there is another evil a thousand times more dangerous: the bad example he sets."

Lumumba was criticized for his intransigence, his radicalism, even his idealism, but since he and other Africans of his race were murdered, the other leaders, the traitors to put it bluntly, that the colonizer chose for us have done nothing but turn Africa on its head. Perhaps Lumumba was right when he said that without the struggle you will have nothing. Today, China has set out to conquer Africa. China knows exactly what it wants. But I don't know if the same can be said of Africa. Be that as it may, if I had to plead for future generations, I would say this to African leaders: "Just because China always has the money to buy everything doesn't mean you're going to sell it everything now".

Mr President of the Court of History,

Despite this gloomy picture, there is one note of satisfaction. For Africa, it is demographic growth. Yes, we have populated our land, despite those who think we are already very numerous. Japan, for example, has 120 million inhabitants for a territory of 300,000 square kilometers, or 20 million (if I'm not mistaken!) more than the population of the DRC for a territory almost 9 times smaller than ours. But we don't lecture the Japanese. I like this argument from J.J. Rousseau; when a woman reproached him for abandoning his children, he said this: "Forgive me, madam, you say that you shouldn't have children when you can't feed them. Forgive me, madam, nature wants us to have children because the earth produces enough food to feed everyone. But are the countries of the rich, it's your country, that is stealing my children's bread of my own."

Mr President of the Court of History,

A final word. And it will be a word for the youth of Africa.

Dear comrades, we now know everything. We know that our fathers ate the fruit of corruption and they killed our countries. If a single generation allows itself to reproduce these patterns of corruption and selfishness, then Africa will be irretrievably finished. Let it be said: history is not moral. And Africans are wrong to believe that colonization is of the past, that slavery is of the past. We absolutely must put an end to this unfortunate past and present. The task is hard, yes, hard. But you know, it's when the going gets tough that the tough get going. I don't like young people who get drunk all the time; I don't like young people who dance all the time; I don't like young people who pray all the time; I don't like young people who give up and go off to die far away in the sea. No, Africa wants us to live in it.

I dream of young people who live in libraries; I dream of young people who are committed and enterprising; I dream of young people who plant flowers. Yes, flowers to make Africa bloom. Africa is beautiful, my friends. And like a beautiful woman, Africa does not want to be abandoned. Africa does not want to be raped. Africa wants to be loved. Thanks a lot.

See, Procès contre le colonialisme et des indépendances africaines 60 ans après