H.M. Stanley | Kinshasa | Congo
The statue of Stanley in
Kinshasa was erected in 1956. In 1971 under Mobutu's rule the still
visible remnants of the country's imperial legacy were forcibly
removed and the statue was toppled down.
In 2010 A “Friends of
Stanley” group in UK financed the repair of the statue to attach it
to the base from which it was sheered at the ankles in 1971.
“Stanley was somebody
who by any standards was a great explorer, but his exploration was
undertaken in the service of colonization of Africa. He advocated a
British Congo at first but the British weren't interested; then he
sold his soul to King Leopold," said Mr Hochschild. "He
used the whip freely, and was quite a slave driver. I don't find any
redeeming feature in Stanley myself."
