AFCON 2025: Lumumba lives as a motionless DR Congo fan attracts everyone's attention
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Reading Time: 1min | Thu. 01.01.26. | 09:07
He stood still at every group match in tribute to the politician who was assassinated in 1961
While drums thundered and songs echoed around the stadium as DR Congo sealed a place in the Africa Cup of Nations last 16 with a 3-0 win over Botswana, one man did not move. Not once.
High in the stands, dressed in a jacket and tie, Michel Kuka Mboladinga stood frozen on a makeshift podium, arm raised, eyes fixed ahead. For 90 minutes, and more...
The beautiful game has lost none of its character, this scene from AFCON and featuring a motionless Congo fan. Brilliant! 👏🇨🇩 ⚽️pic.twitter.com/ew4KMvpUWb
— Éire Guide (@eireguide) December 31, 2025
Nicknamed 'Lumumba', Kuka Mboladinga pays tribute to the Democratic Republic of Congo's first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, assassinated in 1961. His pose mirrors the famous statue in Kinshasa - and he repeats the ritual at every DR Congo match.
Even extra-long added time cannot break him. The opener against Benin stretched close to 115 minutes, yet he remained motionless until the final whistle.
Now, with DR Congo marching on, Lumumba will rise once again. Algeria awaits in the last 16, and so does another silent act of defiance.
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