"The UN Secretary General, Dag Hammarskjöld, of blessed memory, will forever be remembered by Africans, in general, and the Congolese, in particular, due to his fight for justice and equality, as well as the critical role he played in the consolidation of the fledgling African democracies in the sixties ”.

Quoting an excerpt of a statement by the Congolese Head of State, President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, at the Swedish Embassy in the DRC, the Governor of the city of Kinshasa, Gentiny Ngobila, paid tribute to late former UN Secretary-General, Swede Dag Hammarskjöld, on the 60th anniversary of his death.

It was during a commemorative ceremony organized on September 16, 2021 by the city of Kinshasa, in collaboration with MONUSCO, and the Swedish embassy in the DRC, at the Dag Hammarskjöld bridge, on avenue Colonel Mondjiba, which flows into the Makelele river, between the municipalities of Kintambo and Gombe.

The second UN Secretary-General died on September 18, 1961 in a plane crash in Ndola, in present-day Zambia, while on an official mission for ONUC, the United Nations Force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In the presence of the Swedish Ambassador to the DRC, Henric Råsbrant, the Swedish Deputy Minister in charge of Development and Cooperation, Janine Alm Ericson, as well as several diplomats from this country who came to Kinshasa for the occasion, Gentiny Ngobila paid tribute to the courage and selflessness of this man, whose commitment marked the history of the DRC and Africa.

In attendance, several veterans, including Bengt Wicksén, a veteran who served as a peacekeeper within UNOC at the time of the death of the late Secretary-General.

A few hours before the interactions, at MONUSCO Headquarters, the Swedish Deputy Minister in charge of development and cooperation, Janine Alm Ericson, laid a wreath at the foot of the stele erected in tribute to the peacekeepers. fallen for peace in the DRC.

The next day, Saturday, September 18, the head of MONUSCO and the Swedish delegation participated in a tribute-paying ceremony in Ndola, Zambia.

On this occasion, Bintou Keita portrayed Dag Hammarskjöld as the symbol of love who would give a voice to the weak.

In order for the memory of Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld and his sacrifice for peace in the DRC to ever be remembered by the Congolese, repair work is underway on the bridge that bears his name.

They should result in the erection, by the city and the Swedish embassy, ​​of a bust bearing the effigy of the former peacekeeper, who died in the cause of peace in the land of Lumumba.