Saturday, February 13, 2016

Profiles of Edgard Nguesso,Willy Nguesso and Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso

Within that large diverse ruling Nguesso family, there are many who supported press freedom and were very supportive of what I had initiated at MNTV/MN Radio. The ruling Nguesso family is not a homogenous set up. It must be pointed out clearly.   The children of Maurice Nguesso who are also nieces and nephews of the President and his other nieces and nephews are different.  There are also the children of Denis Sassou Nguesso or the legal ones as opposed to those born out of wedlock and who were massively recognized through the pressure of late Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba and Maurice Nguesso. Some in the first are well mannered, but the worst are the newly recognized Nguessos. They are the ones, who have ruined the little good reputation that (he) President Denis Sassou Nguesso could have garnered amongst Congolese. The newly minted Nguessos are those that are into show and tell attitudes and other scandals such as harassments and rape reported in Congo.  

As I had already mentioned, there is the special case of Mrs. Lydie Hortense Kourissa, who is the eldest of the Nguesso children. It is also true that, she was reticent at first at how and what her father wanted MNTV/Radio to become editorial wise and this was so because of the pressure that, she received from her husband, Mr Jean De Dieu Kourissa. But, at the end after she understood that, what I was doing was not at the detriment of the regime but instead propping it, she became my bulwark against the barrage of attacks, which she received on my behalf from her family. Even her husband, Mr Jean de Dieu Kourissa, also became my great supporter and also defending I whenever need be. He also started giving me information on what went wrong within the ruling party. He was not doing so because he hated his party, but he wanted his party to carry out reforms and adapt to the changing realities in the society. Jean de Dieu Kourissa and Arlette Soudan Nonault are amongst the few members of the ruling party and ruling family that understood that, they were out of touch with the reality, hence the urgent need for reforms. 

Edgard Nguesso

And within the ruling family, there was another good man. His name is Edgard Nguesso.He is calm, open minded and tolerant. He likes honest intellectuals, bold politicians and professional journalists. But the fact that, he is an active soldier prevents him from exercising or showing his true potentials to the Congolese public. 

Willy Nguesso

I have also met with Willy Nguesso and Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso. The first, we had met twice. The first time was in Ewo, a town located in the north of Congo or to be precise, in the north western part of Congo. We met at around 11pm at the initiative of Juste Mondele. I was stroked by his simplicity and honesty. He told me or we spoke about many things that night with Willy Nguesso. I was surprised at his mastery of international politics and current affairs. But what I could retain in the long conversation that ended at about 1 am in the morning, were the following: I am what I am today, not because I am very intelligent, but more because of the position that my father have in this country as president of the Republic and I think, we need to be humble enough. Then he also told me that: the ruling Congolese Workers Party or t PCT has killed two Congolese presidents. Namely: Marien Ngouabi and Alphonse Massamba-Debat. And he concluded: Pierre Ngolo and Michel Ngakala are extremely wicked and opportunistic people who spend their time smearing their comrades to the President of the Republic. I (Willy Nguesso) myself, I am a victim of the communist calumny orchestrated by both Pierre Ngolo and Michel Ngakala. Fortunately for me, Sassou Nguesso is my father. I can imagine how others in this country are suffering or are victims of conspiracies hatch out by people such as Pierre Ngolo and Michel Ngakala. Besides calling or referring to Pierre Ngolo and Michel Ngakala as incompetent, opportunistic and slanderers, Willy Nguesso did not have kind words for his cousin Mrs. Arlette Soudan-Nonault. He described her as a talkative, bellicose and a radical who misleads his father or in the western terminology, his uncle, who is President Denis Sassou Nguesso. I was very happy without encounter. For I left with the impression that, Willy Nguesso was not only a simple man but, more so a honest man.

Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso

I was also happy because, I saw another Nguesso, besides Maurice Nguesso and Lydie Hortense Kourissa and Rodrigue Nguesso, who hated communism and was a liberal. I have met with Christel Sassou Nguesso three times. Once on board a flight from Brazzaville to Paris and the second time was in the restaurant of Four Season Hotel in Washington DC and the third time was in the village of Boukuoelle. Boukuoelle is a small village or a neighborhood in the Village of Edou.  And Edou is some 4km from the town of Oyo, which is also the name of the district. I discovered that, Christel Sassou Nguesso was every inch different from his cousin Willy Nguesso. He was somehow distant with a tinge of arrogance. I don’t know whether it was because of the reputation that I had already forged in the sub-conscience of some members of the ruling family, but I discovered that, he was distant and having lining of pride. He was almost already destroyed by people who were around him and already calling him President of the Republic. One of such was the former minister of Communications and current minister of Culture, Mr. Bienvenu Okiemi.

Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso looks calm with no apparent trace of a man who can command or have the ambition to command.  But he is being groomed by the likes of Michel Ngakala and even his father to start thinking of ruling Congo. Our meeting in Boukuoelle, Edou was in 2012. It was at the heat of legislative elections.  I came to interview him and this time around he was accessible. It is strange how during campaign arrogant and distant politicians become accessible. Christel Sassou Nguesso was consisting for the Oyo electoral district, of which he was the lone candidate. Although he was alone, he needed the intervention of his uncle Maurice Nguesso in order to be elected.  For in Oyo district, the population doesn’t like the Nguessos and they detest Christel Sassou Nguesso, because they think he is not wholly Congolese. In Oyo district, he called: KIKI LE Zairois.  Why because his mother is from neighboring DRC and in the Republic of Congo, DRC natives or nationals are held in utter contempt. However I was taken aback by some declarations of Christel Sassou Nguesso off record. He was openly criticizing the fact that, his father was tolerating corruption and also allowing his friends to do whatever they please.Was he sincere? Or was he doing or talking the way he was speaking because I was there? I can never tell. But, I left with a mixed feeling. However, what I was certain was that, the scheme was already in place for him to succeed his father.

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