Hellot Matson Mampouya: Profile of a potential rising political star

Hellot Matson Mampouya: he is the current minister of Post and Telecommunications and Digital Technology and also the leader of a political party known in French as Dynamique Republicain pour la Democratie abbreviated DRD. He is the only government minister of Denis Sassou Nguesso, besides Jean Richard Bruno Itoua, that I know, who not only ostensibly displays his bible in his office but who also talks a lot about God. He is an assertive Christian.  But had he any other choice than to be an assertive Christian? For he is subject of all kinds of attacks from his rival, hence I think, his only refuge is the bible and Christianity.  His biblical verse of choice is the book of Psalms 27:14. He is also very eloquent. Hence he used to be the spokesperson of late Bernard Kolelas, who is considered as his mentor and God father. Mr Mampouya who is a native of the Pool region is a former member of the MCDDI party.  This party which is a centre right party was founded by Bernard Kolelas and his now headed by his son Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas. Mr Mampouya has several accusations against him and this comes mostly from his political opponents who were his erstwhile friends. He is accused by Landry Kolelas, who is currently the minister of Commerce of not being a native or national of the Republic of Congo. Mr Landry Kolelas claims that, Mr Mampouya is a national of neighboring DRC, where Bernard Kolelas, their late father spent most of his early period of political exile.

But the reality as Hellot Mampouya once told me  is that, he was born in Kinshasa on the 7^th of February 1964 and came back forcefully in Brazzaville in 1964 because, Congolese were expelled from the DRC by the government of late former Prime minister Moise Tshombe. He told me that, the fact that, he was born in the DRC doesn’t make him a DRC citizens. Politically, his ascension was prepared by late Bernard Kolelas, who was his mentor and God Father. But his current ministerial post is not the wish of his former party but the wish of the ruling party, whose aim is to weaken the MCDDI party in their stronghold of the Pool region.  But the ruling PCT in their attempt to weaken the centre right MCDDI Party, they have created in Hellot Matson Mampouya, a formidable political force that may someday, pose a greater threat to the ruling party.

For Hellot Matson Mampouya unlike his cousin Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas, doen’t wants his party the DRD to remain a regional or tribal base political party. His ambition is to make the DRD to be become a party of nationwide appeal. And the ministry of basic education that he was formerly heading and now the ministry of Post and Telecommunications are being used not only to coordinate and help grow the quality of the Congolese educational system, but his ministry or government positions are mostly used to lay the political foundation for his personal ambitions. He is not the first government minister to use the same method, to spread political influence nationally.  The well known one is former government minister Andre Okombi Salissa.  Mr Salissa was also at the head of the same ministry for 12 years and used it to create a network of loyal supporters around the country. According to Leon Juste Imbombo, a political analyst: in financing or supporting Hellot Matson Mampouya against his cousin, Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas, it was the greatest strategic error made by the ruling party. Leon Juste Imbombo adds that: Mr Mampouya is a rabble-rouser and a hard working ambitious political figure unlike his cousin. Leon Juste Imbombo might be accusing the ruling PCT for having created a potential rival, however, there are people such as Arlette Soudan-Nonault who are of the opinion that, Hellot Matson Mampouya is the creation of Jean Dominique Okemba, in his plans to govern or over throw Denis Sassou Nguesso. Hellot Matson Mampouya is therefore a force to reckon with presently and in the future, for his true potentials is yet to be reached or achieved. Should the government make an error to sideline him, he will become the greatest adversary of the regime.