Did Denis Sassou Nguesso order the assasination of Pierre Anga?

According to the military officer:  “Denis Sassou Nguesso decided to take the lead and remove President Marien Ngouabi from power or stage a coup d’état, before Marien Ngouabi could sack him (Denis Sassou Nguesso) from the government and the State -Major Special Command, hence the assassination of Marien Ngouabi which took place on March 18th, 1977 which Denis Sassou Nguesso is the genuine author.” He went further:  “it was because of the dispute that opposed President Marien Ngouabi and Denis Sassou Nguesso on the expulsion of Dr Cloud, the real motive for the crime (coup d’état), so to speak. Besides the alleged assassination of Marien Ngouabi as claimed by the Congolese military officer, he also told me that, Denis Sassou Nguesso was also responsible for the assassination of Pierre ANGA.

Why? I asked him. He told me: “it was because Denis Sassou Nguesso wanted  to revenge  or punish Pierre Anga who had humiliated him (Denis Sassou Nguesso) when President Denis Sassou Nguesso was still commandant of the Para-commando battalion of the Congolese Army in 1974”. Still according to my informant, whose name I can release because he is still in function: “when Pierre Anga was back from his paratrooper commando training in the USSR (after failing in his attempt at medical studies in France), Pierre Anga did not accept to be led by Denis Sassou Nguesso. Pierre Anga considered, Denis Sassou Nguesso, as unfit to command an elite battalion”. According to my informant, Denis Sassou Nguesso was indeed a reserve officer and as such, could not be the head of such a unit that was highly respected in the Congolese army.  However, what I don’t know is whether a reserve officer doesn’t have the right to head a battalion or any military unit of active military men and women. My informant went further in our conversation: “Contesting the place of  Denis Sassou Nguesso at the head of the Para-Commando, Pierre Anga convinced President Marien Ngouabi to organize a retaining jump (Para jump), where all the officers of the battalion had to jump, including President Marien Ngouabi himself and of course the unit commandant, Denis Sassou Nguesso”.

My informant concluded: “Finally Pierre Anga was right to say that Denis Sassou Nguesso was not fit to lead the battalion”.  “Why?” I asked again. And he went on: “all officers successfully passed the test of fire (the famous jump maintenance).Denis Sassou Nguesso was the only one who failed and ended up with a bleeding mouth, nose, and with broken legs and chest. Denis Sassou Nguesso was taken to the military hospital in Brazzaville and then evacuated for emergency medical treatment in West Germany, where he stayed for four months. During Denis Sassou Nguesso’s absence it was Yvon Jacques Ndoulou who acted as the acting commanding officer of the battalion”.  He concluded: “Since that humiliation, from Pierre Anga, Denis Sassou Nguesso had kept a grudge against Peter Anga”. He continued: “And when the opportunity presented itself, to punish Pierre Anga, he (Denis Sassou Nguesso) did not hesitate to order his (Pierre Anga) assassination in the forest Ikonongo in 1988”.  I was not entirely convinced, but since there seem to be some logic, I recorded our conversation and hence I am sharing it with you here.

For my objective is to know who killed Marien Ngouabi and also why he was killed. However, as already explained, I have listened to several versions regarding the assassination of Marien Ngouabi, but the veracity of none has convinced me. Nonetheless, there is one constant, almost all Congolese think that, Marien Ngouabi, was killed by Denis Sassou Nguesso. While some claims have not been proven, however that of Anani Bindji Rabia earlier shared, seems to a certain degree, in my humble opinion, close to the reality.  For he gives names and there is also some logic in his claims, whereas most people that I have spoken to seldom give names or brings up the names of people that, everyone suspects. Hence, there are no suspense and nothing new to offer.  Even though, I have some doubts about Anani Bindji Rabier, the simple fact that he has some names that are not commonly known in the Marien Ngouabi assasination, it provides some relative crediblility to his claims and writings. But, his book may provide the missing link.