Anani Bindji Rabier: man who claims to know the killer of Marien Ngouabi

To demonstrate that, he was close to late President Omar Bongo Ondimba, Anani Bindji Rabier told me that, he used to serve as a mediator between late President Omar Bongo Ondimba and his political opponents, who were mostly based in Paris, France. He also told me that, he was one of the many intermediaries used by late President Omar Bongo Ondimba to contact the father of late Edith Lucie Sassou Nguesso, who upon her marriage with the late Gabonese leader, became known as Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba. And he added: “Denis Sassou Nguesso never wanted his daughter (late Edith Lucie Sassou Nguesso) to get married to Omar Bongo Ondimba”. I knew this aspect or part of the story because Dr Malot Okemba, one of President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s elaborated networks of nephews.  Dr Malot Okemba had once told about the aforementioned episode. It was in 2009 in his house, located in the northern end of Oyo, if you are going to Owando or Edou or the southern end if you heading back to Brazzaville or into Oyo.

Dr Malot Okemba’s compound is contiguous to that of Jean Dominique Okemba, another nephew of the President Denis Sassou Nguesso. Vice Admiral Jean Dominique Okemba is very influential in the system and also known as Satan. For it is claimed that, he is not only very wicked, he is the one who holds the mystical powers of the President of the Republic.  And Dr Malot Okemba’s compound is only separated to that of Jean Dominique Okemba by a shallow stream and small forested marshy land. Anani Bindji Rabier also told me that, late Omar Bongo Ondimba was not Gabonese but from Central African Republic. To support his claim, he told me that, in what he (late Omar Bongo Ondimba) called as his native village in Gabon; they were the only ones with the name Bongo. Here again, I don’t know whether I should to believe Anani Bindji Rabier or not. For in Congo, it is also claimed that, Late Omar Bongo was Congolese, for I have personally visited the school where he attended in the Congolese town and district of the same name called Zanaga. Zanaga, which is rich with iron ore, is located in the Lekoumou prefecture in the south of Congo and not far from the Gabonese border.

Anani Bindji Rabier has worked in France for French language pan African newspapers such as Jeune Afrique and Afrique-Asie. Anani Bindji Rabier currently works for a Cameroonian Television station called Canal 2 International and he is the host of a popular but controversial programme called La Tribune de L’Histoire.  Anani Bindji Rabier told me on the 1st of October 2015 in the office of Auriol Lonkio Tchatchouang, the director of Human resources of Canal 2 International that, he knows who commandeered the assassination of Commandant Marien Ngouabi. He even added that, he has written a book wherein, he has given ample details on the killer of Marien Ngouabi and also all what he knew about his friend, late President Omar Bongo Ondimba. But, he told me that, his book would only be published after he has departed this world. If one is not a bluff, he won’t make such declarations. Hence, I have decided to include Anani Bindji Rabier’s own version in this book. Although his version narrated here in by me is not going to be as exhaustive as it will be in his own book. Hence it is necessary to share it with you.

For it might turn out to be the missing link that could help solve the puzzle over the enigmatic death of the man who was the hero of poor  and nationalistic Congolese and a villain to the chattering class of the happy few, who are governing Congo today.  As indicated above, it was on the 1^st of October 2015 in the office of the Director of Human Resources of Canal 2 International, that, Anani Bindji Rabier told me that, he knew who killed Marien Ngouabi. He also added that, he had written it in his book that will only be published when he is dead. And he also told me on that same day that, he has left a will to the director of Human resources to publish his book after he has left this world. But, I asked to know the reason why, he could not publish his book while he was still alive. He replied that, when you have been close to someone, it is not polite to say all what you knew or know about him while you are still are still alive. 

Marien Ngouabi's assasination: Denis Sassou Nguesso is accused by Anani Bindji and Bernard Doza

In an interview in 2008, Bernard Doza, an Ivorian opposition leader based in France told me that, it was Felix Houphouet Boigny, then President of Ivory coast who not only prepared the logistics, but also planned in Abidjan with the help of Denis Sassou Nguesso, the assassination of   Marien Ngouabi, because, according to him, Marien Ngouabi had become a nuisance to France. Since Felix Houphouet Boigny was not only anticommunist, he was also serving, defending and protecting the interest of France within the sub region, Felix Houphouet Boigny was therefore duty bound to eliminate Marien Ngouabi just as he had thereafter, supervised the assassination of Thomas Isidore Sankara in 1987 or the failed coup d’état in Benin Republic orchestrated by late French mercenary Bob Denard in 1975. Here again, there are no evidence, besides allegations and more, Bernard Doza never produced anything to me in order to support his claims.  But as far as Robert Denard  was concern, the online dictionary Wikipedia has it that: Mr Robert Denard who was a member of the French Navy who was born on the 7^th of April 1929 and died on the 13^th of October 2007.

He was working at the service or in support of Francafrique, through the staging of several coup d’états or taking part in counter communist operations in countries such as Algeria, Angola, Congo, Gabon, the DRC and Zimbabwe to name just these countries. However where he really operated was in the Comoros Islands and between 1975 and 1995, he took part in several coup d’états. He is said to have converted to Islam and became known as Said Mustapha Mahdjoub and was a father of 8 children from seven marriages. Francafrique is a policy put in place by General Charles De Gaulle, meant to support France’s influence and control over its former colonies in Africa, in particular, African countries south of the Sahara. But for the purpose of this book, I am going to share with you two information, from a Congolese army officer and the second from a Cameroonian journalist called Anani Bindji Rabier. Mr Rabier is a former military officer trained in Brazzaville, when Congo’s current political capital was still the capital of French colonial equatorial Africa. Furthermore, Anani Bindji Rabier also claims to know late president Omar Bongo Ondimba very well. 

to show me that, he was close to late President Omar Bongo Ondimba, Anani Bindji Rabier told me that, he used to serve as an intermediary between late President Omar Bongo Ondimba and his political opponents who were mostly based in Paris, France. He also told me that, he was one of the intermediaries used by late President Omar Bongo Ondimba to get into contact with late Edith Lucie Sassou Nguesso who upon her marriage with the Gabonese leader became known as Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba. And he added: “Denis Sassou Nguesso never wanted her daughter to get married to Omar Bongo Ondimba”. I knew this aspect because Dr Malot Okemba, one of President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s elaborate networks of nephews once told about the episode in 2009 in his house located in Oyo. Anani Bindji Rabier also told me that, late Omar Bongo Ondimba was not Gabonese but from Central African Republic, hence in what he called his native village in Gabon, they were the only ones with the name Bongo. Anani Bindji Rabier has worked in France with French language pan African newspapers called Jeune Afrique and Afrique-Asie. 

Assasination of Marien Ngouabi: Home grown or commandeered from abroad

The funniest one was in 2009, while I was interviewing General Emmanuel Ngouelondele, who was a close friend and close collaborator of Commandant Marien Ngouabi and who is still wearing a wrist watch offered to him by Marien Ngouabi, I asked him bluntly during our interview: “who killed Marien Ngouabi?” He replied: “Go and ask your friend Denis Sassou Nguesso”.  General Emmanuel Ngouelondele Mongo worked with Marien Ngouabi from 1969 to 1975 and  in 2013 he published two volumes of his memoires that in total was 657 page in  titled in French as : Au service du Congo, mon Temoignage or in English: At the service of Congo, my testimony. But what stoke me with it was that, he was unable to give any clarity on the death Marien Ngouabi. He was evasive and there was nothing new in his book that would have helped Congolese and also stop the rumors, speculations and accusations and counter accusation prevailing in Congo. Either General Emmanuel Ngouelondele Mongo knows nothing about the assassination of his late former boss or he is just a coward and not an Army General as he likes to claim.

To his discharge, he is not the only one, for even General Joachim Yhombi Opango who was a victim twice of Denis Sassou Nguesso has been unable or not courageous enough to enlighten the public on the assassination of the one who not only made them to become what they all are today, but who above all, shifted the balance of power from the south to the undereducated and backward northern Congolese courtesy the 1968 Coup d’état. My opinion is that, either they were all accomplices shortchanged by Denis Sassou Nguesso or they are simply cowards. Perhaps the  attitude of General Emmanuel Ngouelondele Mongo is the reason why, there is also a rumor in Brazzaville, which has it that, one year before the assassination of Marien Ngouabi, Emmanuel Ngouelondele was sent to Paris by Denis Sassou Nguesso to explain or ask for France’s support in their planned  coup d’état against Marien Ngouabi. For Marien Ngouabi had become too nationalistic in the eyes of the French, hence they wanted him eliminated. Those claiming that, Emmanuel Ngouelondele knows something about the assassination of Marien Ngouabi also points out that, today; the Lord Mayor of the Brazzaville Greater City Council is Hughes Ngouelondele MP.

Hughes Ngouelondele is the son in law to the President and also the first son of the retired General Emmanuel Ngouelondele. Furthermore, the daughter of General Emmanuel Ngouelondele is married to Edgard Nguesso, the nephew of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. To those who want to accuse Denis Sassou Nguesso in the death of Marien Ngouabi, they also claim that, Emmanuel Ngouelondele has been compensated for his treachery.  The intermarriages between the Ngouelondele and the Nguesso, it is claimed in some circle in Brazzaville, is not by chanced, but a means to compensate Emmanuel Ngouelondele and the intermarriages  also  severs as collateral that the secret on the assassination of Marien Ngouabi will forever remain a secret. The assassination of Marien Ngouabi may have been carried out by Congolese, but it seems it was commandeered from abroad. 

Paris-Brazzaville:who killed Marien Ngouabi?

He continued: “In fact, I refused to become president because my time had not yet come, therefore, it was Joachim Yhombi-Opango who was co-opted to take over the military committee and title of head of state, with the main objectives being to restore peace and order and also return power to civilians”. Jean Marie Tassoua, former warlord and former minister of Energy and Hydraulics, told me that, Marien Ngouabi had become too family oriented and too tribal and that was the cause of his death. The claims of Jean Marie Tassoua aka General Diap, dents a little bit the nationalist and ant-tribal and anti-regionalist image often attached to Marien’s many positive qualities. Others also claims that, when Marien Ngouabi discovered that, his family and tribe were having an excessive influence around him and he wanted to relinquish power, hence he was killed by his own very people.   What Jean Marie Tassoua never told me was whether President Denis Sassou Nguesso took part or not, in the assassination or fomented the violent death of Commandant Marien Ngouabi.  However in Brazzaville and elsewhere in the country, many are of the opinion that, there is no way President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who was at that time, minister of defense and also in charge  of security could not have known that, his boss was not only in danger but risked being assassinated. 

In clear terms, most people in Congo are of the opinion that, it was Denis Sassou Nguesso, who assassinated Marien Ngouabi. But it must be pointed out that, no major or minor actor during that period has actually come out besides what President Denis Sassou Nguesso had written which is wafer thin to explain the cause of the death Marien Ngouabi. Be that as it may, one should not lose sight that, Congo is a country were lies, character assassinations and blackmail has been elevated into a profession. In other words, Congo is a country of professional liars. This is the only country in the world where lies can be transformed into truth and truth into lies. Hence, on the assassination of Marien Ngouabi, it will be almost impossible to know the truth and I have also abandon the search because I have tried and had a bewildering array of sometimes contradictory information.  Sometimes you begin to wonder whether all your interlocutors wanted Marien Ngouabi dead or that, they are all too afraid to say anything or also that, there a feeling of collective guilt. The funniest one was in 2009, while I was interviewing General Emmanuel Ngouelondele, who was a close friend and collaborator of Commandant Marien Ngouabi, who still has a wrist watch offered to him by Marien Ngouabi, I asked him bluntly: “who killed Marien Ngouabi?”

He replied: “Go and ask your friend Denis Sassou Nguesso”. For there is also a rumor in Brazzaville, which has it that, one year before the assassination of Marien Ngouabi, Emmanuel Ngouelondele was sent to Paris by Denis Sassou Nguesso to explain or ask for France’s support in their planned  coup d’état against Marien Ngouabi. For Marien Ngouabi had become too nationalistic in the eyes of the French, hence they wanted him eliminated. Those claiming that, Emmanuel Ngouelondele know something about the assassination of Marien Ngouabi also points out that, today; the Lord Mayor of the Brazzaville Greater City Council is Hughes Ngouelondele. Hughes Ngouelondele is the son in law to the President and also the first son of the retired General Emmanuel Ngouelondele. 

Paris-Brazzaville : Did Sassou Nguesso take part in the assasination of Marien Ngouabi and others?

Until those deaths are fully investigated and the culprits known, named, punished and publicly shamed, the future of Congo will always be on the brink.  As concerns the death of Marien Ngouabi, there are legions of speculations and suspicions regarding the death of one of Congo’s most popular leader. One such speculation was narrated to me by a military officer, still in function in Congo. He claimed that, it was President Denis Sassou Nguesso who assassinated Marien Ngouabi. His claims were music to my ears until one day; he related to me a story that I thought was convincing, but not solid enough to nail current President Denis Sassou Nguesso. While his story was not entirely convincing, it nonetheless has some cohesion, which warranted me to share it, in this book. This is so because Marien Ngouabi’s death along with the deaths of Bishop Emile Biayenda and Alphonse Massamba-Debat remains one of Congo’s greatest unsolved political deaths, since independence. Those deaths are clouded in a lot of mysteries, speculations and suspicions.  But while Denis Sassou Nguesso is being accused, two other people have completely absolved Denis Sassou Nguesso regarding the assassination of Marien Ngouabi.

The two people who told me point blank that, Denis Sassou Nguesso had nothing to do with the assassination of Marien Ngouabi are Mrs. Lydie Hortense Kourissa and a certain Mr. Mavougou. Mrs. Lydie Hortense Kourissa claims might be dismiss on the ground that, she is the niece of the President of the Republic of Congo. However, I believed her when she told me that, Denis Sassou Nguesso had nothing to do with the assassination of the one who contributed in making him (Denis Sassou Nguesso) to become what he is today. She added that: “On the day when Marien Ngouabi was killed, I saw how the President was crying and he was devastated”. Crying is not enough to absolve a person who is suspected for having committed a crime.  On the other hand, it must be sadly pointed out that, crying could also mean several things at the same time.  For it could be that, he was crying of joy or of sadness. Nevertheless, I believed what Mrs. Kourissa told because, she is a practicing Christians. The second person to absolve President Denis Sassou Nguesso was Mr Mavougou, he told me: “there was no way Denis Sassou Nguesso could have been able to assassinate Marien Ngouabi”.

He added: “Marien Ngouabi was killed by his own very brothers of the Kouyou tribe who were his praetorian guards and they are the ones who asked Denis Sassou Nguesso to succeed Marien Ngouabi because, they had not agreed amongst themselves or selected the rightful person to replace Marien Ngouabi”.  Here again, there is a detail that, Mavougou forgot, but that Denis Sassou Nguesso brought up in his book in a weird and wonderful way. He wrote in Denis Sassou: Le Manguier, le Fleuve et la Souris, published in 1997, he (Denis Sassou Nguesso) doesn’t mention or corroborate what Mavougou told me, but he (Denis Sassou Nguesso)writes that: “as minister of defense, he was designated as interim president from 18^th of March 1977 to April 2^nd of the same year”.  And during this period, he continued: “I was not ready to assume the post of President of the republic and more, I sensed that, there were others within the army who were better disposed than I to assume the function of president”. 

Paris-Brazzaville : Congo, a country riddled with several unsolved deaths or assassinations

Commandant Marien Ngouabi was the President of Congo, assassinated on the 18th of March 1977.  Commandant Marien Ngouabi who came to power in 1968 through a popular revolt, which ended the rule of Alphonse Massamba-Debat, was born on the 31st of December 1938 in Ombelle, a village located some 18km from Owando. While Congo’s second president who was born in 1921 in Boko came to power on the 19th of December 1963 and officially resigned on the 2^nd of August 1968. Alphonse Massamba-Debat was assassinated on the 25th of March 1977. However Commandant Marien Ngouabi became the military leader of Congo on the 1st of January 1969 and died on the 18th of March 1977. And until date, the real cause or causes of the death and also the people suspected of being connected with the death of Marien Ngouabi are not known.  Many names have been floated as those who may have or did take part in the killing of Marien Ngouabi.  There are many suspects, but those whose names are most often floated are: late Pierre Anga and General Florent Ntsiba, who is currently Minister of state for labor and social security since 2009.  

But before his current post, he rose to prominence within the army and the ruling PCT party and was also minister of information in the 70s. But how could Pierre Anga who was one of the confidantes of Marien Ngouabi possibly have taken part in his assassination? It is just as puzzling as was the death of Marien Ngouabi himself. Pierre Anga, who was born in 1940, and was a Congolese army officer and rebel leader who was an opposition figure to Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso. He formed part of the Military Committee of the Congolese Workers Party or PCT from 18th of March 1977 to 3rd April 1977 acted in place of the Presidency after Marien Ngouabi was assassinated. Anga was arrested in 1987 for allegedly participating in a coup d'état against the President; during this arrest several soldiers were killed. Shortly after this coup attempt fighting broke out in the North of the country between forces led by Anga (a supporter of Joachim Yhombi-Opango) and Government forces. He was killed by Congolese security forces. He is reported to have died in the jungle of Ikonongo. Since independence from France in 1960, Congo has had several leaders.

However Marien Ngouabi has remain not only unique because of his charisma, it also perhaps the way in which he was assassinated by those he brought to the limelight, that has made many Congolese desiring long after he is gone to know more about him and the cause of his violent death. Almost immediately after the death or assassination of Marien Ngouabi, Alphonse Massamba-Debat and Bishop Emile Biayenda were also assassinated in what seems to be a revenge attack orchestrated by northern officers who thought that, the assassination of Marien Ngouabi was a southern plot. The corpse of Alphonse Massamba-Debat has never been found. Rumors has it that, where is currently built the stadium carrying his name is where he was hastily buried. As for Emile Biayenda, it seems he was buried in the north of Brazzaville on top of a hilly range that today has become a pilgrimage venue for Roman Catholics. Congo therefore has several unsolved deaths or assassinations mysteries that also breads a simmering tension which makes the country looks more like a keg of gun powder than an oasis of peace often claimed by its leadership.