the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations gave fans not only dramatic matches and shocking results, but also a truly iconic image of the tournament .. That image was created by 26-year-old DR Congo supporter Michel Kaku Omangila, better known by the nickname “Lumumba.”
Even after the Congolese national team was eliminated in the Round of 16 at AFCON 2025, this fan became one of the tournament’s main stars.
The story of “Lumumba” quickly went far beyond a single football match. Fans from different countries saw a deep symbol in his gesture, not just fan eccentricity.
French-speaking media and social media users called Michel Kaku the “star of AFCON 2025,” and his image one of the tournament’s strongest visual symbols.
The DR Congo national team lost to Algeria in the Round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations, conceding the decisive goal in the 119th minute of extra time. That goal sent Algeria into the quarterfinals and dealt a crushing blow to the “Leopards.”
But millions of viewers around the world remembered more than just the match itself.
The Motionless Fan Shown More Often Than the Players
Throughout the game, the broadcast repeatedly focused on the same person in the stands.
Michel Kaku Omangila scored no goals and made no assists. Yet he reminded the world why football in Africa is more than just a sport.
His stillness became a form of protest, memory, and respect. His tears reflected the pain of an entire nation. And his image became one of the most recognizable symbols of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Sometimes, a single figure in the stands can speak louder than a thousand words on the pitch
Michel Kaku embodied the image of Patrice Lumumba — a national hero of Congo, the country’s first prime minister, and a symbol of Africa’s struggle for freedom and dignity.
He did not move for the full 90 minutes of regular time and all of extra time, without changing his pose or facial expression.
Importantly, this was not a one-time performance. Michel repeated this ritual during all four matches played by DR Congo at the tournament.
The Tears of “Lumumba” Seen by the Whole World
In the 119th minute, when Algeria scored the winning goal, something happened that made the moment truly legendary.
Patrice Lumumba is widely regarded as the nationalist leader who helped end Belgian colonial rule in Congo in 1960.
He became the first prime minister of the newly independent country and was seen as one of Africa’s most promising leaders, but he was killed less than a year later during a conflict with a Belgian-backed secessionist movement in the mineral-rich Katanga region.
Questions remain about the extent of Belgium’s and the United States’ involvement in his death.
A Belgian parliamentary commission later concluded that the government was “morally responsible” for Lumumba’s killing. In 1975, a U.S. Senate commission found that the CIA had drawn up a separate — and ultimately failed — plan to assassinate the Congolese leader.
For many Congolese, Lumumba remains a symbol of what the country could have achieved after independence. Instead, it fell into decades of dictatorship that drained its vast mineral wealth.
“He is like a member of the family,” Nkuka Mboladinga says of the visionary leader.
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