Le monument des Martyrs de l'Indépendance à Mbandaka

In 1963, a monument was erected in Mbandaka (then, 'Coquilhatville', RD du Congo) in memory of the victims of the riots which had broken out in that city on July 4, 1960. Independently of this, at some moment during the Mobutu regime January 4 was proclaimed day of 'the commemoration of the martyrs of the independence'; this referred to the Congolese independence demonstrators who had fallen on January 4, 1959 in Leopoldville. Local authorities in Coquilhatville confused the two dates (July 4, 1960 and January 4, 1959) and added the inscription 'January 4, 1960' (in reality, a date without any historical significance) to the monument erected in their town in 1963. On the basis of recently collected testimonies by some of the principle historical actors, the author traces the history and the meaning of the 1960 Mbandaka riots, which somehow blemished the reputation of this otherwise peaceful, provincial town. Keywords: Mbandaka, Coquilhatville, Independance Resume En 1963 fut erige a Mbandaka, anciennement Coquilhatville, en DRC, un monument en memoire des victimes de l'emeute qui y eclatait le 4 juillet 1960. Un autre 4 , notamment le 4 janvier, avait ete proclame au niveau national jour de commemoration des martyrs de l'Independance (tombes le 4 janvier 1959 a Leopoldville) et les autorites de Coquilhatville, succedant aux initiateurs de la construction du monument, ont introduit une confusion en apposant au monument la date du 4 janvier 1960, une amalgame historiquement sans signification. L'auteur esquisse sur base de nouveaux temoignages des principaux acteurs responsables, l'histoire et la signification des emeutes de ces journees mouvementees qui eclaboussent la reputation paisible des habitants de cette ville de province. Mots-cles : Mbandaka, Coquilhatville, Independance (Annales AEquatoria, 22(2001): 103-124)