Paris-Brazzaville (Part 3: Pascaline Bongo Ondimba)

As Constant Nemale left 3 A Telesud, Pascaline Bongo Ondimba brought on stage Mr. Jean Philippe Kabore of Ivorian nationality. Mrs. Pascaline Bongo Ondimba is the daughter of former Gabonese President Omar Bongo Ondimba. She was former minister of foreign affairs of Gabon from 1991- 1994 and from 1994 to 2009; she also served as directress of cabinet or chief of staff of her late father. Mrs. Pascaline Bongo Ondimba was born on the 10^th of April 1956 in Brazzaville to a Congolese mother by name Louis Mouyabi Moukala.  Although she has lost political influence since her younger brother Ali Bongo Ondimba came to power in 2009, she commands enormous economic power in Gabon and as proven, she has remain the chairwoman of the board of directors of several companies in Gabon, Morocco, France and in the United States, that was created or funded by her late father. Mr. Jean Philippe Kabore is the eldest son of Mrs. Henriette Diabate. Mrs. Henriette Diabate, who is currently the Grand chancellor of Ivory Coast, is one of the most loyal supporters of the current Ivorian President Mr. Alassane Dramane Ouattara.

Before the current position of Ivory Coast’s Grand chancellor, Mrs. Henriette Rose Dagri Diabate was minister of culture from 1990-1993 and briefly in 2000. She was reappointed as minister of Justice from 2003-2005.  Mr. Jean Philippe Kabore, who had no experience in journalism, is the one who hired Louis Magloire Keumayou as the first journalist within the new phase of what was then called 3 A Telesud. Mr. Keumayou is a French-speaking Cameroonian journalist and president of the Association of pan African journalists abbreviated in French as APA. It is a Paris based organization that groups journalists of African ancestry, who are working and living in France. And Mr. Louis Magloire Keumayou was born on the 10^th of June 1973. He has worked respectively for Radio Vatican and also for the French service of the BBC called BBC Afrique. Mr. Keumayou currently works for another pan African Television station called Vox Africa. He is a practicing Roman Catholic and married to a French woman of Caribbean ancestry with whom they have two children.

Louis Magloire Keumayou is the one who created the news service of 3 A Telesud. He was the one who asked me to join him in the creation of the news service of Telesud. And he was also the one who encouraged me to start the first programme that was broadcast or produced by the news service which was called La Grande Interview.

La Grande Interview, which became the flagship interviewing programme of Telesud was molded along to the flagship BBC Interviewing programme called Hardtalk presented by Tim Sebastian and currently presented by Stephen Sakur.  The name of the programme La Grande Interview, that I was the host, was chosen by a certain Vincent Douine and it was created to replace another very popular interviewing programme called JMK SHOW presented by Jean Marie Kasamba.   Mr Kasamba had also left Telesud for his native country, the DRC to work with President Joseph Kabila Kabange. In the DRC, Jean Marie Kasamba with the help of President Joseph Kabila created a television station called Tele 50. This television station based in Kinshasa was initially created to celebrate the 50^th independence anniversary of Africa’s largest country in term of area.