While thousands of football fans chant, wave flags, and surge in constant motion across stadium stands at the ongoing AFCON 2025 tournament, one man has captured global attention by doing the exact opposite—standing perfectly still.
Meet Michel Kuka Mboladinga, a 53-year-old Congolese football supporter famously known as “Lumumba Vea.” At the ongoing African football competition, Mboladinga has gone viral for performing as a human statue, maintaining a silent, motionless presence throughout DR Congo’s matches.
Lumumba Vea’s selling point is his uncanny resemblance to Patrice Lumumba, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first prime minister and a central figure in the country’s fight for independence. Lumumba Vea says he pays tribute to his country’s national football team by mimicking Lumumba’s iconic statue posture in Kinshasa. Credit : TRTAfrika
