'Francophonie of the people': Juliana Lumumba's vision for the French-speaking world
As the daughter of assassinated Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba, Juliana Lumumba carries one of Africa’s most powerful political names. Now, the former culture minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo wants to use that legacy to reshape the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), the world’s main French-speaking body.
Issued on: 24/05/2026 - RFI
Juliana Lumumba, former culture minister in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and candidate for secretary-general of the International Organisation of La Francophonie, in the RFI studio on 21 May 2026. © Anthony Ravera / RFI
Four candidates are competing to lead the OIF when member states vote in November 2026.
Speaking to RFI during a campaign visit to Paris, Lumumba said the organisation must move beyond governments and elites, reconnect with ordinary people and do more for young people and conflict mediation.
She also spoke about DRC’s latest Ebola outbreak, and her family’s decades-long search for the truth about her father’s 1961 assassination.
RFI: Your country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is facing a new Ebola outbreak. Are you worried?
Juliana Lumumba: No, I’m not worried, because this is the 17th Ebola outbreak and DRC is one of the countries with the greatest expertise on this disease. Bear in mind that Professor [Jean-Jacques] Muyembe of DRC's National Institute for Biomedical Research developed a treatment for Ebola.
I know our authorities are working closely with the World Health Organization and other international bodies. I think we will get through this outbreak just as we have got through the others.
RFI: You were five years old when your father was assassinated in 1961. Last week saw the death of Belgian diplomat and businessman Étienne Davignon, who was ordered to stand trial last year over his alleged involvement in your father’s murder. That is now impossible. What are your family's thoughts?
JL: We view this death with gravity and with distance. But our quest was not personal, aimed at one individual. It was a search for historical truth about Patrice Lumumba both as our father, and as the first prime minister of the Congo.
When we wrote to the King of Belgium on 30 June 2020 [asking for Lumumba's remains to be returned], it was to seek the truth – a truth about his legacy – and, of course, as his daughter and son, to bury our father with dignity after 60 years. That's 60 years during which we never learned any real facts about what had happened to our father, a man who had been denied even a grave.
But the king’s response meant the world to us. It is a coming to terms with the truth, with our memories, a coming to terms that allows us to lay our father to rest with dignity. That was important to us.
Today, after so much suffering, the legal process is still ongoing. In any case, it will continue.
Belgium, the US, France and the 'elimination' of Patrice Lumumba
Four candidates are competing to lead the OIF when member states vote in November 2026.
Speaking to RFI during a campaign visit to Paris, Lumumba said the organisation must move beyond governments and elites, reconnect with ordinary people and do more for young people and conflict mediation.
She also spoke about DRC’s latest Ebola outbreak, and her family’s decades-long search for the truth about her father’s 1961 assassination.
RFI: Your country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is facing a new Ebola outbreak. Are you worried?
Juliana Lumumba: No, I’m not worried, because this is the 17th Ebola outbreak and DRC is one of the countries with the greatest expertise on this disease. Bear in mind that Professor [Jean-Jacques] Muyembe of DRC's National Institute for Biomedical Research developed a treatment for Ebola.
I know our authorities are working closely with the World Health Organization and other international bodies. I think we will get through this outbreak just as we have got through the others.
RFI: You were five years old when your father was assassinated in 1961. Last week saw the death of Belgian diplomat and businessman Étienne Davignon, who was ordered to stand trial last year over his alleged involvement in your father’s murder. That is now impossible. What are your family's thoughts?
JL: We view this death with gravity and with distance. But our quest was not personal, aimed at one individual. It was a search for historical truth about Patrice Lumumba both as our father, and as the first prime minister of the Congo.
When we wrote to the King of Belgium on 30 June 2020 [asking for Lumumba's remains to be returned], it was to seek the truth – a truth about his legacy – and, of course, as his daughter and son, to bury our father with dignity after 60 years. That's 60 years during which we never learned any real facts about what had happened to our father, a man who had been denied even a grave.
But the king’s response meant the world to us. It is a coming to terms with the truth, with our memories, a coming to terms that allows us to lay our father to rest with dignity. That was important to us.
Today, after so much suffering, the legal process is still ongoing. In any case, it will continue.
Belgium, the US, France and the 'elimination' of Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Lumumba with his children in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) on 10 August 1960. © AP/Babout
RFI: Do you hope one day to know the whole truth?
JL: The truth will set us free and we hope we will get it.
So far, we have had no judicial commitment from Belgium. But we continue to hope, and we will continue to seek the truth. Because this truth does not only belong to Lumumba's children. It is the truth of an entire country.
We must not forget that when we speak about Lumumba, we are speaking about a politician. He had people who supported him and people who opposed him. He won elections under colonial rule and he had a parliamentary majority. We are talking about the 1960s – the ups and downs, the failures and successes of the time. We are talking about Belgium. We are talking about history, plain and simple.
It matters. We are still living with the consequences. Our history is still faltering. We need this truth. Not only Congolese people, but Belgians too, because it is a shared history.
Belgium's King Philippe 'regrets' colonial-era abuses in DRC
RFI: Let’s get back to 2026 and your candidacy for secretary-general of the OIF. Why decide you decide to run?
JL: I put myself forward because, first and foremost, it is a huge challenge.
When you look at my background, I left [DRC] when I was five. I did not learn French in France or in Belgium. I learnt it in Egypt because we were smuggled out a few months before my father’s assassination. My father already knew then he was going to be assassinated. He asked his friends and peers for somewhere to protect his wife and children... They asked the president of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, who immediately agreed. My father agreed too.
What is extraordinary is that the two men had never met, but they knew one another because they shared the same values of solidarity, pan-Africanism, national sovereignty, justice and African dignity. I am the product of those values.
RFI: The product and the heir, so to speak?
JL: Yes. We were smuggled out by the Egyptian army. Because they were part of the United Nations at the time, they made proper false passports. My eldest brother François was Tarek, Patrice was Omar and I was Fatmah. We were the children of Ambassador Abdelaziz Aichane, who had come to Congo to open Egypt’s first embassy.
At the same time – and this may seem extraordinary – we were sent to French schools because we were meant to return home one day.
The family we lived with, along with my brothers and sisters, was Muslim. We were Christians and were taken to mass every Sunday. We were like President Nasser’s adopted children. I called him uncle. When we went swimming, he would carry me on his shoulders.
Above all, we learnt to respect each other’s culture and identity. That solidarity, brotherhood and unity existed... I bring these values with me. They were also the founding values of the OIF.
French overtakes Arabic to become world's fourth most spoken language
RFI: You have said you dream of a Francophonie of the people. Does that mean that today we have a Francophonie of governments?
JL: There are more and more governments. I want a Francophonie of the people, a Francophonie closer to the people. A Francophonie in which not only the members, but also communities, women, men and young people talk to one another.
There is such diversity within the French-speaking world. This diversity is important. We must talk to one another. We must understand one another, not just tolerate one another. The other person’s perspective is important... When we can talk to one another, we can unite, we can work together, we can build together because we understand one another, because we respect one another, because we say to one another: “My brother, you are different from me, but you enrich me.”
RFI: What would make you a better candidate than the outgoing secretary-general, Rwanda’s Louise Mushikiwabo, who is running for re-election?
JL: I don’t frame the issue in those terms, better or worse... Louise Mushikiwabo has served two terms. She acted with a sense of commitment. I respect her work.
For my part, I am calling to rebuild and revitalise the OIF, to bring it closer to the people. That means making sure it does not become merely a network of elites. In other words, we need to streamline the bureaucracy a little, to move away from bureaucracy.
RFI: To make it less institutional?
JL: Less institutional, more attuned to the voices of communities and the members from French-speaking countries. They should be more closely involved and have a say.
The French-American duo reviving Louisiana’s francophone heritage
RFI: Do you think the OIF could be more involved in conflict resolution?
JL: I believe its purpose is to be close to the people. It is a space of values and rules, a space where we believe in human rights and mediation.
I believe we must also train young people in conflict resolution and prevention within the OIF. Not only when it comes to security-related conflicts, but also cultural conflicts that may arise within the French-speaking world.
RFI: In March 2025, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso announced their decision to leave the OIF. Would you like to see them return?
JL: Absolutely, I would like to see them return. It is not normal to lose members. We should be gaining them instead.
Knowing these countries and their leaders, who look up to Patrice Lumumba as an icon, I am confident that if I go there, they will listen to me.
RFI: The OIF represents a community united by language, but also by values. Does the idea of readmitting three countries led by military juntas trouble you?
JL: I am not against rules. We establish rules to be followed.
But we must engage in dialogue with people. We must listen to them to understand what is happening and why they left. Did they leave because of the OIF? I don’t think so. Is the OIF the problem? I don’t think so. Is it a matter of wounded pride? Is it another issue?
We must listen to them and work it out together. It’s a dialogue.
RFI: You have visited several countries in Africa as part of your campaign. You have also been to Canada.
JL: I received a warm welcome in Canada... I presented my projects and they were impressed by my ideas about young people, digital technology and the fact that, for me, French is not a monocentric language. It is polycentric.
We must also promote sister languages alongside French, because they are also a lever for promoting French. I speak Swahili, others speak Lingala and others speak Kikongo. But what unites us when we do not speak these languages is French.
Sister languages are the languages we speak every day. They are our means of expression and we are proud to speak them. But we are also proud to speak French and we want to speak French.
How a Nigerian town came to speak ‘street French’
Do not forget that 65 percent of French speakers are in Africa and that Africa is young. I come from a country where 60 percent of the population is under 25. And education is in French.
What do they want? They are Generation Z, the digital generation. They want to be part of their country’s development. We must bridge the digital divide, through training young people and through technology. What matters most is education.
If we want to defend and promote French tomorrow, we must defend it today through economic means. For me, it's through the cultural and creative industries that we can achieve this.
RFI: Have you met President Emmanuel Macron? Do you think France will vote for you?
JL: I don't know yet whether I have France's vote. I met President Macron in Kenya [at the Africa Forward summit]...
Of course, I hope for his support. I'm campaigning to get the backing of as many countries as possible.
So far, I have received support. Many people have been impressed by my enthusiasm, my drive and my passion for the OIF and for promoting the French language.
RFI: The campaign is underway.
JL: Honestly, I am fairly optimistic at the moment.
This interview was adapted from the original in French and has been edited for length and clarity.
RFI: Do you hope one day to know the whole truth?
JL: The truth will set us free and we hope we will get it.
So far, we have had no judicial commitment from Belgium. But we continue to hope, and we will continue to seek the truth. Because this truth does not only belong to Lumumba's children. It is the truth of an entire country.
We must not forget that when we speak about Lumumba, we are speaking about a politician. He had people who supported him and people who opposed him. He won elections under colonial rule and he had a parliamentary majority. We are talking about the 1960s – the ups and downs, the failures and successes of the time. We are talking about Belgium. We are talking about history, plain and simple.
It matters. We are still living with the consequences. Our history is still faltering. We need this truth. Not only Congolese people, but Belgians too, because it is a shared history.
Belgium's King Philippe 'regrets' colonial-era abuses in DRC
RFI: Let’s get back to 2026 and your candidacy for secretary-general of the OIF. Why decide you decide to run?
JL: I put myself forward because, first and foremost, it is a huge challenge.
When you look at my background, I left [DRC] when I was five. I did not learn French in France or in Belgium. I learnt it in Egypt because we were smuggled out a few months before my father’s assassination. My father already knew then he was going to be assassinated. He asked his friends and peers for somewhere to protect his wife and children... They asked the president of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, who immediately agreed. My father agreed too.
What is extraordinary is that the two men had never met, but they knew one another because they shared the same values of solidarity, pan-Africanism, national sovereignty, justice and African dignity. I am the product of those values.
RFI: The product and the heir, so to speak?
JL: Yes. We were smuggled out by the Egyptian army. Because they were part of the United Nations at the time, they made proper false passports. My eldest brother François was Tarek, Patrice was Omar and I was Fatmah. We were the children of Ambassador Abdelaziz Aichane, who had come to Congo to open Egypt’s first embassy.
At the same time – and this may seem extraordinary – we were sent to French schools because we were meant to return home one day.
The family we lived with, along with my brothers and sisters, was Muslim. We were Christians and were taken to mass every Sunday. We were like President Nasser’s adopted children. I called him uncle. When we went swimming, he would carry me on his shoulders.
Above all, we learnt to respect each other’s culture and identity. That solidarity, brotherhood and unity existed... I bring these values with me. They were also the founding values of the OIF.
French overtakes Arabic to become world's fourth most spoken language
RFI: You have said you dream of a Francophonie of the people. Does that mean that today we have a Francophonie of governments?
JL: There are more and more governments. I want a Francophonie of the people, a Francophonie closer to the people. A Francophonie in which not only the members, but also communities, women, men and young people talk to one another.
There is such diversity within the French-speaking world. This diversity is important. We must talk to one another. We must understand one another, not just tolerate one another. The other person’s perspective is important... When we can talk to one another, we can unite, we can work together, we can build together because we understand one another, because we respect one another, because we say to one another: “My brother, you are different from me, but you enrich me.”
RFI: What would make you a better candidate than the outgoing secretary-general, Rwanda’s Louise Mushikiwabo, who is running for re-election?
JL: I don’t frame the issue in those terms, better or worse... Louise Mushikiwabo has served two terms. She acted with a sense of commitment. I respect her work.
For my part, I am calling to rebuild and revitalise the OIF, to bring it closer to the people. That means making sure it does not become merely a network of elites. In other words, we need to streamline the bureaucracy a little, to move away from bureaucracy.
RFI: To make it less institutional?
JL: Less institutional, more attuned to the voices of communities and the members from French-speaking countries. They should be more closely involved and have a say.
The French-American duo reviving Louisiana’s francophone heritage
RFI: Do you think the OIF could be more involved in conflict resolution?
JL: I believe its purpose is to be close to the people. It is a space of values and rules, a space where we believe in human rights and mediation.
I believe we must also train young people in conflict resolution and prevention within the OIF. Not only when it comes to security-related conflicts, but also cultural conflicts that may arise within the French-speaking world.
RFI: In March 2025, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso announced their decision to leave the OIF. Would you like to see them return?
JL: Absolutely, I would like to see them return. It is not normal to lose members. We should be gaining them instead.
Knowing these countries and their leaders, who look up to Patrice Lumumba as an icon, I am confident that if I go there, they will listen to me.
RFI: The OIF represents a community united by language, but also by values. Does the idea of readmitting three countries led by military juntas trouble you?
JL: I am not against rules. We establish rules to be followed.
But we must engage in dialogue with people. We must listen to them to understand what is happening and why they left. Did they leave because of the OIF? I don’t think so. Is the OIF the problem? I don’t think so. Is it a matter of wounded pride? Is it another issue?
We must listen to them and work it out together. It’s a dialogue.
RFI: You have visited several countries in Africa as part of your campaign. You have also been to Canada.
JL: I received a warm welcome in Canada... I presented my projects and they were impressed by my ideas about young people, digital technology and the fact that, for me, French is not a monocentric language. It is polycentric.
We must also promote sister languages alongside French, because they are also a lever for promoting French. I speak Swahili, others speak Lingala and others speak Kikongo. But what unites us when we do not speak these languages is French.
Sister languages are the languages we speak every day. They are our means of expression and we are proud to speak them. But we are also proud to speak French and we want to speak French.
How a Nigerian town came to speak ‘street French’
Do not forget that 65 percent of French speakers are in Africa and that Africa is young. I come from a country where 60 percent of the population is under 25. And education is in French.
What do they want? They are Generation Z, the digital generation. They want to be part of their country’s development. We must bridge the digital divide, through training young people and through technology. What matters most is education.
If we want to defend and promote French tomorrow, we must defend it today through economic means. For me, it's through the cultural and creative industries that we can achieve this.
RFI: Have you met President Emmanuel Macron? Do you think France will vote for you?
JL: I don't know yet whether I have France's vote. I met President Macron in Kenya [at the Africa Forward summit]...
Of course, I hope for his support. I'm campaigning to get the backing of as many countries as possible.
So far, I have received support. Many people have been impressed by my enthusiasm, my drive and my passion for the OIF and for promoting the French language.
RFI: The campaign is underway.
JL: Honestly, I am fairly optimistic at the moment.
This interview was adapted from the original in French and has been edited for length and clarity.
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