Did the cia Kill Lumumba?

Abstract

Abstract Williams’ White Malice: The cia and the Covert Recolonization of Africa is a crusading examination of what the cia did in Africa in the 1960s, and it suggests that the cia, working closely with Congo army chief Joseph Mobutu and coordinating with secessionist leaders in Katanga, was responsible for Patrice Lumumba’s assassination. Recently uncovered hard evidence from cia files reveals the Agency’s connivings in, with, and against Africa and Africans during the first years of independence, involving cia station heads, accomplices, the many shady characters tasked with nasty deeds against African leaders, and those many miscreants who supplied information and surveillance about African political and industrial personalities. The book is a reminder of our misconceptions, our failures to read Africa well, our willingness to let ends dictate means, and a testament to blinkered policy making.