Bienvenu Okiemy: he is the youngest member in Denis Sassou
Nguesso’s government. Until his recent appointment at the ministry of culture and
arts, he was Congo’s minister of Communications and minister in charge of
relations with the national assembly and government spokesman. He was born on
the 14th of July 1972 in Brazzaville. Before his entry into the
government, he was vice dean at the faculty of law of the Reims University,
France. And he is a Barrister
at the Paris bar council. He is an intelligent
man and an intellectual who has authored two books and written several articles
related to law, published in several journals. But he is also an opportunist to
many. To his enemies and detractors, he is an opportunist who cherry picks his
fights. His detractors also claim that, since he joined the government as
minister of Communications, he has reneged on all what he formerly stood, for
while he was in France. Bienvenu was for honesty and the rule of law, but now
he has joined the camp of the dishonest and lawless, crows some of his
detractors. One of such is Patrick Eric Mampouya, who is one of Congo’s famous
blogger. He says that, Bienvenu Okiemy was smooth until he decided to join the Sassou
Nguessos in the pillage of the country’s wealth and resources. As for Maurice
Nguesso, he is of the opinion that, young people such as Bienvenu Okiemy are
the only hope for his younger brother. Bienvenu
is a member of government, but he does not fanatically defend a system that has
little or nothing worth defending. He
has his style which adapts to the current dispensation. He is very different
from his predecessor Alain Akouala, in that, he is reactive and not proactive
in the defense of the family and regime.
Perhaps he doesn’t
want to suffer the same fate as his predecessor who put his life and reputation
on the line to defend Denis Sassou Nguesso and his family, just to be thrown
out of the government in the most ridiculous way. Alain Akouala, when he was unceremoniously
dropped out of government, it was claimed that, he would go to Paris to become
Congo’s ambassador, replacing longing standing Henry Lopez. In was a monumental
shameful lie fabricated by people who think that, they are the demi-gods of
Congo. In fact, it was just a ruse hatched out by the children of the President
to show Alain Akouala the door in a subtle manner, simply because he (Alain Akouala)
is bold and independent minded to their taste. And more, he is not subservient to
their (children and family of the President) whims and caprices. Bienvenu Okiemy by contrast, is doing just his
job. But it has been interpreted by some members of the ruling Nguesso family
and also by some zealous ministers who owe their positions to one of the
children of the president that, he is not convincing enough Or doesn’t want or
not fit. Bienvenu Okiemy is mechanical when it comes to defending the regime on
subjects that he knows the regime and the family are legally wrong.
And it can be discerned,
when he is responding to questions of Journalists on Radio France International
or Africa 24, that, he is simply forcing things out, because he has to. He is a
good man who has decided to join an evil course or system. And it seems to me
that, all that he is interested in is to make his fortune and also help his
family and friends. Bienvenu Okiemy is a
very generous man with his friends and also loves his family. Having lived in France for a very long time,
he acts and behaves like most French people, who see Africans and African
countries as a milking cow that needs to be milked dry. On the subject of
constitutional change in Congo, which is a very hot and controversial topic, he
says privately that, the government has no legal logic to back up their claims
or plans to change the constitution. In clear terms, the government is wrong.
That is the intellectual spirit in him which speaks privately and it is honest.
But the evil virus of politics and quest for wealth makes him to sing a
different song in public. In short, he doesn’t have the courage to express his
real thoughts openly, for fear not only to be shown the door out of government,
but with the added risk of sudden death. Therefore, I am of the opinion that,
his current change of ministerial post is for him, a welcomed relief. He would be free from the verbal abuses and
excesses of Claudia Sassou Nguesso, who really a pain on his back.
He will also no longer
have to be spending sleepless nights in search for the appropriate words and
terms to defend a system that perpetually shots itself on its legs. And on the
controversial “Bien Mal Acqui” judicial saga and the case of the beach
massacres code named “les Disparus du Beach,” he doesn’t want to get involved as his predecessor Alain Akouala was. He
once told me that, power in Congo will leave the north for the south, if honest
and transparent elections were held and he also told me that, southern
Congolese are better and highly educated than northern Congolese. And he concluded
that, the real battle between the north and the south regions of Congo was that
of intelligence and he was of the opinion that, the south was way ahead of the
north. Politically, Bienvenu Okiemy is not a heavy weight. He relies on the
supports that he gets from Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso and Aime Emmanuel
Yoka, respectively son and uncle of the President of the Republic. In other
words, he is a featherweight and not a broad day street political fighter like
Alain Akouala. However, he is not one to be neglected, for he has a formidable
survivalist instinct. Hence, his real ambition is to become minister of justice,
a post currently held by Aime Emmanuel Yoka, one of his two God fathers.
This means also that,
behind the smiles and manifestation of naivety, he is not just a political survivalist,
he is an ambitious person who might contrary to my claims and observations,
outlive Denis Sassou Nguesso period. It might explain the reason why, he did
everything in 2012 to be vetted by the ruling PCT party as an MP for Bondji.
Had he succeeded, it would have been at the detriment of one of the two local
barons. Namely: Denis Ngokana and Rudolph Adada. It also explains the reason why both local
barons of the ruling party look at him with suspicions. His detractors accuses
him of being a tribal oriented person and also that, he has mismanaged or used the
funds of the ministry of Communications to enrich himself. It is an accusation
that he rejects, although it comes from his elder sister, who was once his
principal accountant and assistant at the ministry of Communications. I do hope
that, the mistakes that, he committed while at the ministry of Communications,
won’t be repeated at the ministry of Culture and Arts. Bienvenu Okiemy’s administration of the
national television and Radio stations, it is claimed by most staff of the
state owned media was also a disaster and this if proven, is a disappointment
for a man of his intellectual height.
His frequent
misunderstandings or dog fights with Jean Obambi, a senior journalist and Director
of the state owned Television paralyzed the smooth functioning of a media that
would normally be at the disposal of the people and serving the interest of the
people. To his discharge, without that fight, state owned media in Congo has
never served the people but working for the propaganda and self aggrandizements
of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, his government and his family. Under him, it is reported by workers that,
Congolese national television and radio also promoted and favored incompetence
at the expense of competence. Furthermore, he did not allow contradictory views
on state media. All what were accepted were the ideologies and supporters of
the ruling party. To his discharge he was simply respecting the instructions
from the Presidency of the Republic. But for all his intelligence and other
qualities that he has, I don’t think he has any future in the politics of Congo
in a situation, where by Denis Sassou Nguesso and his family are no longer in
power. Bienvenu Okiemy is a brilliant
man who is currently an intellectual waste, from the time when he opted to join
a system that doesn’t give value to intellectuals but celebrates brutes and
incompetence. His real future is the academia and not in the murky crocodile
infested political river of Congo Brazzaville.
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