Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Paris-Brazzaville : My journey to Congo

The question that, I have always asked is this:  should the aforementioned leaders be forcefully overthrown or assassinated in order to give democracy a chance within the sub region?  It is a difficult question to answer. Furthermore, while I condemn leaders of the sub region, it is also honest to say that, without the help of western nations, these governments won’t have been in power for the length of time that they have. As far as I am concerned, it was during the period that, I do refer to as the turbulent phase of Telesud that Rynelle Kourissa, came to me again and insisted that, I should go and help her grandfather, Maurice Nguesso to set up his media house in Brazzaville.  While I accepted Rynelle’s proposals, what really made me to leave Paris for Brazzaville was a meeting that I had with Mrs. Lydie Hortense Kourissa at the Champ Elysees, located at 133 avenue des Champs-Elysees.  Our meeting was or took place in the restaurant section of the shopping mall. I can’t recall the day exactly, but all what I know is that, she called me and we booked an appointment for 4 pm. Mrs. Kourissa nee Lydie Hortense Nguesso is the eldest daughter of Maurice Nguesso.

And between the two Nguessos, that is Maurice and Denis, they have 48 children and countless grand children and great grand children. Lydie Kourissa is the oldest of them all. She therefore wields enough influence within the clan. But since she is a born again Christian, she is very meek and thrown aback. Christianity has whittled down any ounce of pride that, she might have had. Lydie Kourissa is light years away from the superciliousness demonstrated by her brothers, sisters and by her cousins of the ruling Nguesso family. She prefers to be called or identified only by the name of her husband, Mr. Jean de Dieu Kourissa MP. It is another feature that marks her out differently from her sisters who are married, but seldom carry the names of their husbands. It was with this soft spoken and respectful lady that I made an appointment, but strangely, I forgot to honor it. I could only remember that, we had an appointment, when she rang me again at around 6:30pm.



When she rang me, she told me this: “I have been waiting here since 3:30 pm and our appointment was at 4pm and now it is 6:30pm. If you don’t want to meet me, please tell me, for I am going back to Brazzaville tomorrow”. I just told her this: “Please I am sorry and I am on my way. I took a taxi from Conacq Jay to the Drugstore and met with her. I was so worried to have kept her waiting for too long, to a point that, I never argued much with her. Whatever she told me, I accepted. That was how my Paris work and stay ended and my Brazzaville adventure began. That was toward the end of 2010. But I began working officially for MNCOM in August 2011 and I held several functions within the media house before finally settling as the Director of MNTV and also Director of Studies and Planning of MNCOM, the parent company and name of the media group. But prior  to that meeting with Mrs. Lydie Hortense Kourissa and also the propositions and encouragement from Rynelle Kourissa as already mentioned, I had been coming to Congo since 2009 to cover some events, in particular, the pre-Presidential elections campaigns of 2009.  The person who facilitated everything was Colonel Chryst Bonaventure Engobo. Colonel Engobo is a highly secretive man who was one of the aide de camps of Commandant Marien Ngouabi. 

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