Congo Brazzaville : Slogans to justify corruption & immorality

 Mobali ya bossembo apesa a tala te, in Lingala or in English: a real man gives money to a woman without hesitation. The other is:  Ce n’est pas en admirant une femme qu’elle deviant enceinte, il faut agir, French or in English: it is by admiring a woman that she becomes pregnant. You have to act. The author of this last proverb is Ernest Claude Ndalla, aka Graille, a famous politician and proponent of Marxism in Congo Brazzaville. “Aide au pays amis” or assistance to friendly countries. This is a code word or an allegory, used during exams, mostly by weak and lazy students to ask or request, hardworking students to allow them to copy from their exam sheets or cheat.  Then there is: “lire pour comprendre et tricher pour reussir” or “study to understand and cheat to succeed”. This is used by almost all students at Marien Ngouabi University, who think that, there is nothing bad in cheating during exams.  There is this other slogan, mostly used by female students attending the School of Communications of the University (IST): “seule la cuisse libre” or in a word for word translation: “only the thigh renders academy freedom”. 

It is a euphemism used by female students to justify: sex for marks, which is generally accepted in the University and also within a section of the society as being normal. It is not surprising why Congo no longer has brilliant female journalist since Solange Samba Touyo and Arlette Soudan-Nonault left the profession. It is also common to see male University lecturers in Brazzaville brag openly how he has slept with number of female students and in return give them pass marks.  And worse, some even go the extra mile of marrying their female students as second or third wives. This is also perhaps the only country in the world where its future elite: male and female are not afraid or ashamed to cheat or say that, they slept with their lecturers to past to the next class or obtain their diplomas. 

Congo Brazzaville : Marien Ngouabi University

In most countries on the continent, corruption begins in schools and the Republic of Congo is not different.  And where one witnesses crass corruptions in Congo is at Marien Ngouabi, the name of its lone university located in its capital, Brazzaville. Marien Ngouabi University is therefore the cradle of Congolese corruption or where the evil spirit of corruption is natured into brains of the future governing elite. This university is named after the country’s most popular but controversial president, late Commandant Marien Ngouabi, who strangely enough was a very honest man. Sadly the institution that bears Congo’s former president’s name has a contrary spirit. As prove, Commandant Marien Ngouabi, fought against corruption and the excesses that comes with power. But as mentioned earlier, at Marien Ngouabi University, corruption and all other immoral conducts are feted and encouraged by most staff of the administration, some lecturers and some students.  One thing that strikes any person who is familiar with Marien Ngouabi University are the number of slogans used at the institution and its affiliates by its students, teachers and administrators, to justify corruption, sex for marks and other amoral conducts. 

Equally worrying is the propensity of some Congolese to rationalize the widespread malpractices above mentioned. All these tolerance to malpractices only shows how corruption has become part and parcel of the country’s apex institution. The disheartening part in all these are that, those glorifying corruption, which is cordoned by their institution and government, are the very ones groomed to be the elite of tomorrow. Marien Ngouabi University is therefore par excellence, the breeding ground for future corrupt elite, demagogues, orators who are genius for stirring up divisions and stoking grievances. But the problem now is this, when an institution of higher learning such as Marien Ngouabi University, becomes the reproduction centre for all that has been decried throughout this book, it is certain that,  a greater part of the country will be transformed into angered and vengeful people, who will become fodder for a bloody revolution.   

PCT Barons: Unpredictable and unpatriotic sentimentally

The old powerful and rich men, who almost always are members of the ruling party are not only inconsistent politically, they are also unpredictable and unpatriotic sentimentally. They almost all have DRC girl friends or second wives. During weekends, boat loads of girls are imported from Kinshasa to Brazzaville and also to Point Noire by barons of the regime. Congolese girls generally and in particular those from the cities of Brazzaville and Pointe Noire are aggressive and have been made to think that, taking a lot of time or investing massively on their looks and being good in bed is the only route to economic salvation. Therefore they are poor performers academically and also professionally. Furthermore, some girls and woman from the cities of Brazzaville and Pointe Noire also think that, all they can get anything in life is only through sex. 

Why Congo is always at risk

Any respected Congolese elite, who is classified as successful, can only win such an accolade, only if he has about five mistresses and offers them more or less, the same standard of living. That is why in time of economic crisis, the Republic of Congo is more likely to descend into full scale armed conflict than any other country within the CEMAC region, except Central African Republic, which is already a perpetual state of conflict.  Although cloaked under the sheets of ideological divergence, most conflicts in Congo arise because political barons are disputing over women or they can’t satisfy their several mistresses financially, hence their only solution is to resort to armed conflict as a way to get money.  

Congo Brazzaville : Ephemeral boutique owners

Whenever the mistresses of corrupt barons of the ruling PCT are back from their trips in Paris or Dubai, they make an effort to open a fashion boutique to sell dresses and other products to their friends who have not made the journey or who don’t own stores. It explains partly why, besides night clubs and other drinking spots, boutiques selling dresses from China, Dubai and Paris are common sites in Brazzaville and Point Noire. The most disappointing aspect is that, those boutiques opened by those young girls and women, who are mistresses of corrupt barons of the ruling PCT are that, their investments more often lost making. Those that last for more than a year survive only because they are subsidized by their old powerful sugar daddies who are members of the political bureau or central committee of the ruling party. And when the relationship flatters, as it most often happens or when the old sugar daddy loses his position within the system, the young woman also goes into oblivion, until she is able to make another catch. The other sad observation that I have made with girls and women of Brazzaville and Point Noire is that, they are professional liars and in order to maintain their superficial rank in the society, they have more than one partner and almost all within the same circle. Hence there is high and bewildering promiscuity and also soaring spread of sexually transmissible disease and HIV/AIDS.

Not romantic

The other pitiable aspect with the young girls/women from or of Brazzaville and Point Noire is that, they are not romantic. They are aggressive and think that, investing massively in their appearances and being excellent in bed is sufficient to keep their vacillating old powerful men. Unfortunately for them, they have discovered to their chagrin that, being excellent in bed or investing in their appearances is not enough, for whenever they are caught in a love triangle with girls from the DRC, their eternal rivals, they  have almost always lost. The DRC girls/women do always defeat Congo Brazzaville girls and women, because they are sometimes not only very beautiful, sensual, they are also above all, calm, hard working and intelligent, qualities that are alien to most girls and women from Brazzaville and Pointe Noire. 

Congo Brazzaville : Behavioral evaluation of Congolese girls/women region by region

Benchmark of success: women

 First things first: If a Congolese young woman tells you: “la plus belle femme ne peut offrir que ce qu’elle a” or in English: “the most beautiful woman can only offer what she has”, it must not be taken for a joke or as it may be understood ordinarily or elsewhere. It simply means that, she is ready to offer herself to you. This is a country, where moral values have no place. Rich, old and corrupt politicians, all belonging to the ruling PCT party have not only destroyed women and they have also destroyed the prostitution market. They have also created a culture whereby everything can be bought. As the saying goes in Lingala: “Congo Oyo ebebi” or in English: “Congo is destroyed”. As their male folks, Congolese women also have their own success yardstick, which is different from that of most African women in countries that I have visited and worked. While young women across Africa are becoming more independent minded and going into professions that were usually the preserves of men, in Congo it is the reverse.

fille a success

A successful girl or what is locally known as: fille a success, or in English: successful girl is a girl who has several influential men as partners or suitors. Those who have excelled in their studies are appreciated but feted. And if she succeeds in having children out of wedlock with those powerful men, she is feted. While girls are fighting against polygamy elsewhere on the continent, a Congolese girl, born and bred in Congo Brazzaville has as ambition to get married as third or fifth wife to any old man, provided he is rich.  Behavioral evaluation of Congolese girls region by region:-

Kouilou and Pointe Noire

Women from the Kouilou and Pointe Noire regions are not only very lazy, their best profession is prostitution. They also have a disgusting inferiority complex, for they claim or consider themselves to be “white” Europeans or have strong European cultural influence. Why? Because according to them, they were the ones who first came into contact with Europeans.  To their discharge, they are not the only Africans who think that, the simple fact that, they were the first to come into contact with Europeans gives them an edge over those who came into contact with the colonizers at a later stage. However, the claims of the people of Pointe Noire and Kouilou are not exactly correct, because, the Tekes could also make the same claim, even though they are not found on the coast. Another peculiarity of women from Kouilou and Pointe Noire are that, besides being lazy, they are extraordinarily materialistic. They also all want to get married to whites in other to whiten their family and also generate respect within their family and community.   This is so because, as far as the people of the Kouilou and Pointe Noire are concern, having a mixed race child is synonymous to prosperity and respect. You are either married to an old rich person or to a Whiteman, no matter how poor he is, it will generate respect.

Pool region & the Greater South

Not all the women and girls of Congo are classified as I have mentioned above: lazy and venal. The Pool region that is by far the most educated and the hardest working lot, have the best women in the country. They are followed by the women and girls from the Lekoumou, Niari, Bouanza and Plateau regions. In fact, Congolese women from the greater south of the country excluding those from the Kouilou and Point noire regions are the best women. They are the kind of women who are ambitious, intelligent, hardworking, in short, women with whom you can have solid projects and also talk intelligently without referring only to dresses, trips to France or Dubai or focusing only on sexual matters.

Women from the Great North

My observations of girls and women from this part of Congo have been focused at those from the centre north or Cuvette and plateau regions. I have not known many girls and women from other regions of the greater north such as Likouala and Sangha regions.  However, I am of the opinion that, Women from the latter could be hard working, for the simple reason that, they are closer to Cameroon and Central Africa Republic and also because of the distance that separates them from the epicentres of laziness and depravities of all sorts: Brazzaville and Pointe Noire. However, the tarring of the road from the coastal city of Pointe Noire to Ouesso in the north, may bring along with it not only national integration but uniformity of culture. But the part that may be shielded may be Likouala because of its dense forest and several rivers that make road construction difficult and expensive. While the women from the Pointe Noire, Brazzaville and Kouilou have been decried and classify as a basket cases of all that is negative, but those of the Cuvette and Plateau are not different. They too are lazy and also undereducated. They hate to work or go to, school because their fathers, uncles and brothers hold political and military power in Brazzaville. The only exceptions in the north are the women from the Bacoucouya ethnic group, member of Greater Teke tribe. They are the hardest working women in the north. Perhaps they are hard working because most of have facial scarifications, which makes beautifying their faces a challenge. Hence they are distinct in their ways of doing things as opposed to the Mbouchis and others in the aforementioned regions.

Brazzaville 

Brazzaville is in the Greater pool region, but has been elevated into full-fledged department just as Pointe Noire has. It is a melting pot of people from different parts of Congo who have discarded the cultures and identities from their regions of origin and don a new one, which is that of Brazzaville and passes for that of the entire country.  However the administrative breakup or elevation has not changed anything or brought any improvements in the behaviors of most girls from Brazzaville and Point Noire. In fact, they are a world apart. The atypical good ones are those from rigid Christian families, whose parents have been able to prevent them from falling prey to the vagaries of old corrupt, powerful and lustful men belonging to the ruling PCT party. As already mentioned, girls from Brazzaville and Point Noire, are those who bears the brunt  of the perverse ways promoted  by the rich and powerful old men belonging to the ruling Congolese Workers Party, PCT. These rich and powerful are known in the Congolese parlance and also in the Lingala language as: “Tonton a pesa a tala te” or the generous uncle. They have deep pockets not because of hard work, but more because of the corruption that they have created and which has eaten deep into the fabric of the society.  

They have made the young girls from Congo’s two largest cities to think that, they can only become important by having an affair with old rich men. As a direct consequence, these girls don’t like to go to school. Those who even dare, are not hard working, they are the ones most prune to the phenomenon of “sex for marks” that is widespread in Congolese higher institutions and in chief, at the Marien Ngouabi University in Brazzaville. The ambition of most Congolese girls is to drive a RAV4 Toyota SUV, generally referred to in Congo as: “Merci monsieur” or in English: “thank you Sir”. It is the most common gift that, corrupt and unfaithful rich old men do offer to their mistresses. The other dream or ambition of most Congolese young girls or women, after laying hands on an old baron of the ruling party, is to travel abroad, preferably to Paris or as it is the trend, to Dubai.  Most political barons prefer to send their teenage or young girl friends to Dubai  because when they go to Paris, most seldom come back and most often than not, are picked up by other more powerful political barons who are based in the French capital and waiting like hunting lions for girls from Brazzaville or Point Noire. 

Congo Brazzaville: Congolese women

I began this chapter with a focus on Congolese women by decrying them, not because I have a particular biased toward them, simply because I love them. My take on Congolese women, especially those within the age bracket earlier mentioned and which would be mentioned below with greater details has driven me to a dire conclusion. For in any society and family that have disproportionate number of young women, who are not hardworking and equally not ambitious, then, there is no hope or no bright future. It is sadly what I foresee in Congo, if the current system prolongs its stay in power.  The latter said, Congolese young women could be ranked among the most beautiful women on the continent. But behind those beauties, which won’t be complete without it inherent caprices, hides these strange observations that I have made during my stay in the country: lazy, mercantile and adulterous. However, I must point out that, my observations on Congolese women, especially the young of the age bracket earlier mentioned, is a wide net that I have cast and as such, it must not to be considered as reflective or representative of entire Congolese women. This section is not meant to nurture unnecessary prejudice on a group, who like any other, is not uniform in it behaviors and composition. And like anywhere in the world, the Congolese young woman is multiple in her conduct and character.

To make things simple, like their men, there are good as well as bad women in Congo.  Very beautiful and as well as ugly women, however, I have found out that, Congolese women born in the 50s, 60s are harder workers than the younger generation. Furthermore, Congolese women born in the 50s, 60s are also more independent minded than those born in the late 70s or early 80s and not to talk about those born in the early 90s who are arguably, the laziest. This is another Congolese paradox that, I have been unable to come up with a founded reason to justify or defend. My only answer has been to attribute it to the corrupt old political leadership, who are drunk with excessive oil wealth, which they use to destroy younger generation: male and female. I have attempted to give or paint what Congolese elite, in chief males molded in the mould of the ruling PCT party considers as success. This time around in spite the above, I am also going attempt to paint what a certain crop of Congolese women do consider as success. However, you have to bear in mind that, these ones are those who have already been destroyed by the ruling PCT party’s way of life.

Congo Brazzaville: why are old male members of the PCT high consumers of aphrodisiacs?

Refusing to grow old:

Another characteristic that I have observed with most Congolese elite, especially males is that, while they accept to be called Yaya, most prefer to be called: “Grand frère” and paradoxically women who would not want to be linked to anything old, prefer to be called "MAMA". In Congo it is the men who don’t want to have any reference to their ages and not the women.

Why Congolese men don’t want to be called Papa

There is a reason why some Congolese Men don’t want to be called Papa. It is simply because calling them Papa means to them, that, you are indirectly refusing them from dating younger girls, which to them, is not only a sign of their permanent juvenile nature but also a sign of their political power and wealth.  Some old men in Congo, especially those in power have an insatiable lust for young girls to point that, if they were in a civilize country; most would have been arrested for pedophilia. Furthermore, their insatiable yearn for underage girls could easily make the country to be ranked, among the highest consumers of aphrodisiacs in Africa and even in the world. Anyway, during my stay and research, I didn’t come across any such statistics and I doubt whether there are any known import statistics of Viagra in Congo. But I am convinced that, if findings were made Congo could top the chart of consumers on the continent. Congolese elite don’t only consume western made aphrodisiacs; they are also champions in the consumption of a locally produced aphrodisiac: Encorou. It is claimed by users that, the best quality locally produced sexual enhancement drugs: Encorou, are imported from Lubumbashi in the DRC.

Consequences

The adverse effect in the abusive usage of sexual enhancement drugs by old political barons in Congo is the rising number of sudden deaths in the process of attempting to show sexual vigor in bed to young girls. And in Congo, whenever one old influential politician who belongs to the ruling PCT party dies in the latter situation, it is euphemistically claimed that, he died in action or as it is put in French: “il est mort en action”. However, officially, it is almost always claimed that, he died of cardiac arrest.

Congo Brazzaville: cradle of SAPOLOGIE

SAPOLOGIE

It is a tradition that requires its members to be well educated and also be properly dressed not for vanity or show and tell, but to show the French colonialists then, that, in spite their differences in pigmentation, they were not better than black Africans. It is the spiritual and circular ideology propounded by Andre Grenard Matsoua that has made the people of the Pool region today be more advanced politically, spiritually, culturally and educationally, than most regions of the country. It also explains why Sassou Nguesso and other leaders before him do consider the Pool region as a rebellious region.  SAPOLOGIE and Matsouanists, both secular and theocratic ideologies inspired by Andre Grenard Matsoua, were and are still forms of peaceful protests. It was used in the past to protest against colonial rule and today, it is used to fight against dictatorship. Without understanding the above, it would be beyond comprehension or impossible to understand why the people of BasCongo, mainly the Laris, will leave their neighbourhoods located in south of the capital: BasCongo and Makelekele and walk to the Maya-maya international airport to welcome any visiting French president.

Bizarre political protest

Whenever the smartly albeit flamboyantly dressed people from BasCongo and Makelekele arrive at the Maya-maya International airport, to welcome any visiting French president, they chant noisily in French: “notre president est arrivee” or “welcome, our president”.  As explained earlier, it is not exactly an inferiority complex as I had first thought, but rather a form of protest. Around Africa whenever a personality visits a country, the host country’s government sponsors dancing groups and others to welcome its guest. Most often, the welcoming committee are seen at the airport or massed along the trajectory that the guest will take. It is a classic master piece in dictatorial manipulation to show the guest that, the host leader is popular. In Congo Brazzaville, the state most often include members of the Sapologie in the welcoming committee. Although there are some members of the SAPOLOGIE who are paid to come at the airport to welcome visiting leaders, but the difference between them and other traditional dance groups are that, while most are paid to show a different or positive image of the regime, most often than not, members of SAPOLOGIE or Societe des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Elegants, are the ones who go the airport under the guise of welcoming a visiting French leader or any other guest.  As already mentioned, their chants are  in reality a political statement expressed by people from  the greater south, to show the visiting French leader that, they are living in a country where there is little or no political freedom. 

Controversial

However bizarre the political statement or protest of the BasCongo or people from the greater south as enunciated above via Sapologie could be viewed, they remain the most patriotic or nationalistic groups of Congolese. And among the people of greater southern Congo, the most patriotic could be the Laris, an ethnic group living within and without Brazzaville and in most parts of the Pool region. Having given all the above explanations, it doesn’t change my perception that, Congo may be the only place in French-speaking black Africa that I know, where France is truly respected and admired. However, that admiration or respect for France is fast diminishing among young Congolese because of Paris’s continuous support to the dictatorial rule in Brazzaville as demonstrated by Francois Hollande’s declarations in a Press conference on the 22^nd of October 2015, two days before Congo’s controversial October 25^th 2015 referendum.  Mr Hollande’s claim that, President Sassou Nguesso had the right to organize a referendum to change the January 20^th 2002 constitution was viewed in Congo within the opposition and also within government circles as a tactic support from Paris for Sassou Nguesso to elongate his presidential mandate. 

The Laris: Congo Brazzaville's second “colonial power” after France

What still baffles me with the people of the Pool region, in particular the Laris, who are considered as Congo’s second “colonial power” after the French and who have produced great personalities such as Andre Grenard Matsoua, is their love for France.  The Laris are considered to be Congo’s second “colonial powers or masters” after France, because they not only spread around the country working either as civil servants or traders, they are also known to be one of the most industrious tribes in the country. However, after thorough investigations, there is need to nuisance, the manifest love of southern Congolese toward France. My investigations have made me to realize that, the apparent manifestation of love toward France demonstrated by southern Congolese or the Laris, is nothing but a a form of protest, which will be explained later on. 

Paradox

The love of southern Congolese toward France is truly a paradox. For their hero, who has become a national and pan African hero, Andre Grenard Matsoua who was born on the 17^th of January 1899 and was killed or died in a French jail or hospital on Congolese soil on the 13^th of January 1942, was a nationalist. He was a not only a Congolese political figure and nationalist, he was also a pan Africanist, who taught his people to be independent minded. He taught Congolese and black Africans from France’s African possessions, to be nationalistic, to study hard and use the same tools used by the Whiteman: education, to fight win their freedom. And as part of his emancipation drive, he founded his own religion, known as the Matsouanists and he also invented what is known today as “SAPOLOGIE”.  Besides those two ideologies, he also created a militant movement for students from French-speaking black Africa in France. 

Congo Brazzaville: Abusive African Culture

Congo being an African country, the tradition of respect for the elderly and authorities is respected and equally abused. There are nonetheless some aspects which in my opinion are good. For example in a family, a junior can’t call his/her elder brother or sister, but only by the name of “yaya”. But the use of yaya has now been used and abused by the elite, especially those in power.  For the fact that, you are a “Yaya”, doesn’t shield you from criticism, however in Congo it does, in particular if you are a member of the ruling PCT.  In politics, in particular within the ruling party, older members have held a dominating role for long because, whenever younger party members want to challenge their long held positions, they almost always invoke the fact that, they are the “Yayas”. And as such, any challenge to their position is transformed as being tantamount to non respect of tradition. This attitude is not only found within the ruling party, but also within the opposition and civil society organisations, where you have the same old men heading major political formations with no prospect of retiring even though they are short of ideas. It is this travesty of African culture that some elite use in order to maintain or keep their privileges, the privileges of a “happy few” at the detriment of the majority.

The love for France

Most Congolese love France to a point that, as already mentioned above, even those elite who have pilfered state treasury would want to spend their booty in France and nowhere else in spite the risk of arrest. Unfortunately for them, since some western governments have started hesitatingly seizing their plunders, they are forced to relocate them in countries that are alien to France’s new policy or to countries that doesn’t have the French touch that they so crave.  There is a saying in Congo, especially in southern Congo, that: “to die without seeing Paris is a sin”. This attitude is predominant with the people of the Pool region, who are paradoxically among the most educated people in the country. However, their higher level of education compared to those who are currently governing the country has not prevented them from considering themselves as being French or closer to the French, than to their compatriots from the north. Furthermore, some extreme fringe of the Greater Southern parts of Congo does compare or assimilate northern Congolese to Cameroonians or Central Africans. Anyway, Jacques Opangault, a northern politician for reasons already explained, had even flirted with the thought of breaking northern from the rest of the country to attach it to Central African Republic. And part of northern Congo was part of German Cameroon until 1916.  However the disdain of the people from the greater south of Congo toward the greater northern Congolese has got nothing to do with the latter reasons but could be traced to reasons already mentioned. 

Congo Brazzaville:Pretentious and unpatriotic elite

Triple identities of its elite

In Congo, its elite have triple identities. You have to be careful when speaking with anyone of them. Whenever one smiles with you, you can’t really tell whether it is genuine or he is making a mockery of you. Most elite will always come closer to you whenever he/she is in danger politically or wants to use you to destroy his/her real or imaginary rival. Their friendships are never genuine. It is most often than not, a matter of interest. But in all, there are nonetheless some honest ones. The worse is that: they will say one thing, thinks differently and acts differently.

Inferiority complex

The other thing which has always marveled me with Congolese elite is not only their effort to speak French with a Parisian accent. It is also their inferiority complex toward white French people. They have a love and respect for France that I have never seen before. To some of them, the most superior White is French and from Paris. The simple facts that, today, most of them because of their ill gotten wealth, they are forced to keep their pillage in China, Morocco, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates, is really painful to them. They spend their ill gotten wealth in those countries mentioned, but to the Congolese elite of the corrupt class it doesn’t have the same taste had they spent their ill gotten wealth in France, especially in Paris. The seizing of properties and ill gotten from Congolese dignitaries in France or preventing them from traveling to France is most painful than jailing them. It is perhaps the best thing that civil society organisations such a Sherpa and Transparency International have done. However, the success will be complete when western governments, especially France starts expelling their children, wives, mistresses or denying them healthcare.

Another Personal experience: Congolese inferiority complex

When I was still working for Telesud in Paris, France, Maurice Nguesso once visited our newsroom. During his visit, he met with Bernard Volker, the director of Telesud, who is of course a white French man. At that time, I was working concomitantly for Telesud and MNCOM. And when Mr Volker told him that, I was an excellent journalist, Maurice Nguesso was impressed. When his visit was over, I went to accompany to his car, which was stationed in the parking lot. However, before entering into his car, we shock hands and he looked at me straight into my eyes and said: “so you are so good, to a point that, white French people are appreciating your professionalism?”  Then he added: “we are going to dominate the Congolese media landscape that is full with communist oriented journalists who prefer to sing the praises of your friend”. The morality of this experience is that, had I not been appreciated by a white French man, he would not have given any consideration to my very little talent. To the discharge of Maurice Nguesso and also to some Congolese elite, they are not the only ones who have a sickening inferiority complex, on the continent, when it comes to their relationship with whites. I am convinced that, even some white people are taken aback at how they are respected, whenever they visit the continent, especially in French-speaking Africa: Congo Brazzaville.

Pretentious & unpatriotic elite

 

During my stay in Brazzaville, I can’t count the number of times some government ministers have told me proudly how they can’t watch their dresses or clothes in Brazzaville or how they can’t consume meat sold in the country’s butcher’s shops. They were proud to tell me that, their dresses were cleansed in Paris and their meat and even yogurts came from Paris, France. Even their cars, most often SUVs, when broken down, they are loaded into cargo planes and taken for repairs in France. In fact most Congolese elite are a proud, pretentious, unpatriotic, shallow minded, primitive, incompetent and mendacious lot, with little or no love for their country. They are worst than mercenaries, hence they are swift to embezzle the country’s wealth to secure it abroad.

Congo Brazzaville’s brand of Journalism

Explanations on why Congolese elite prefer praise & flattery

If Congolese political and business elite love excessive praise, there is a raison. According to Professor Gregroire Lefouoba: “it is only through flattery and praise that some Congolese authorities can accede to any demands from his or her interlocutor. He adds: “this unique culture is a blend of African culture and also the long practice of communism, a system that thrives on praise and propaganda, which are more often lies”. He concludes: “It is the combination of African culture, communism and the influence of France that has destroyed the country and made Congolese elite to enjoy flattery and praise”. Professor Gregroire Lefouoba quickly adds: “as vile as communism may have been, she was equally a system that had some positive aspects, but all the positives in Communism, have been discarded by those currently in power in Brazzaville, who have destroyed everything, including the elementary fabric of the country, which is the family”.

Congo’s brand of Journalism

Professor Gregroire Lefouoba also points out that: “Communism has also negatively influenced the Congolese press and hence, most of its journalists, also have a culture of praise with little room for criticism and the complete absence of investigative journalism”. It explains why, there is a journalism brand in Congo today known in Lingala as “Koteka Ekolo te” or in English: don’t betray the fatherland. In other words, it is patriotic journalism. This will be explained in the chapter on Kleptocracy.These brand of Congolese journalism warrants that, praises should be heaped on leaders and country and very little or no room for criticisms.

How some Congo Brazzaville elite are exploited by DRC Musicians

Since most successful Congo Brazzaville men and even women like’s praise, Congolese musicians sing their praise in their songs. It explains why musicians from the DRC have discovered a market niche in Brazzaville. Before recording any new track in Kinshasa, DRC musicians simply cross the River Congo and start knocking at the doors of each Brazzaville elite, who naturally, mutually hates each other and start looking for money. It is the highest bidder’s names that will be song in the record that will be released. It also explains why most Congolese musicians from the DRC, who were famous on the continent before the Nigerians came and stole their top spot, usually make profit for their records even before they are released on the market. Hence DRC musicians such as Koffi Olumide, Fally Ipupa and Fere Gola have made a kill by specializing in singing the praise of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Claudia Sassou, and the Lord Mayor of the Brazzaville Greater City Council and other dignitaries of the regime. 

How male success is evaluated in Congo Brazzaville

In other parts of Africa or in the greater western part of Cameroon, success is measured by the level of your education or how successful you are in business.  However, in Congo, it is a different ballgame. Their standards for success are different. A successful Congolese elite is first judged by how well furnished is his/her wardrobe. He/she must always be properly dressed, speaks French with a Parisian accent, have expensive French perfumes and also have some French etiquette. The latter are just the basics. To acquire fame to a point of becoming the fix for gossips, any successful Congolese elite, must not only be regularly well dressed, he must have a beautiful wife, who must preferably be light skin or light in complexion. It partly explains why Congolese women like using whitening body lotions. The icing on the cake is that, if the said wife was seized from a rival, it creates a special spark and pride. Finally, any successful Congolese elite must also have the latest car: preferably a Japanese SUV or an American made SUV, for it is now the trend and also have a nice house with Greek or Roman Colonnades. The other criteria for success are for the elite to possess the latest mobile phone, preferably, the latest IPHONE. 

Congo Brazzaville, land of Flattery and French courtesy

Unauthentic

What I have also observed with some Congolese elite that I have visited and befriended is that, they are very unauthentic. On the advice of one of my Congolese friend, I did at some points, began limiting the expression of what I honestly thought on Television and on Radio or even on social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter and Viber. Clearly speaking, I started self censorship. In other words, I became a hypocrite, just like most Congolese politicians and elite are. I became like them: shallow in my thoughts and utterances, because I wanted to please. Paradoxically, it did not prevent them from expelling me.

 

Rules in Congo: Flattery and French courtesy

One golden rule in Congo is that, it is proscribe to tell the truth, in particular to the governing elite. It explains why the country is full of professional liars. To survive in Congo, you must lie or shower the elite with excessive praise, in behaving that way, you are assured to win their favour.  I have personally tried the experience and it has succeeded. Whenever I visited a friend who belonged to what I generally referred to as the “happy few” or “its governing elite”, I played “the Congolese ways”. That is, tell my host what he wanted to hear. However, there were occasions and people to whom I could honestly speak what I thought. But it was reserved only to elite that I had known for a very long while and whom, I must have tested and discovered that, he/she can take praise as well as criticisms. Alain Akouala, Clement Mierassa, Raymond Zephirin Mboulou and Bienvenu Okiemy are the only close Congolese elite that I know who accepted honest appraisals: positive and negative. And the second rule in Congo is, always to rain praises or flattery on your interlocutor, in particular, if he/she is a minor or major actor within the governing elite. Objectivity is alien to those currently governing the country. Another observation that supports the fact that, most Congolese elite, in particular males, loves praise and little critics is this: whenever a Congolese  government minister grants an interview to the Press, especially to Radio France international, he/she will call all his/her collaborators around and ask them to give their impressions. The responses expected must all be positive, for any contrary comments attract the rage of the minister and also the risk of loss of employment. That is why; Congolese authorities and government officers always make strategic mistakes, because there are no rooms for those hired as advisers to express sincerely what they really think. As a consequence, most keep their opinions to themselves for fear of losing their jobs and privileges.

Experience (1)

I once visited a government minister who was living in the heart of the city of Brazzaville and in keeping with the advice of my Congolese friend, when I arrived at the minister’s house and was given a seat, I sat down. When I was comfortably seated, I sensed that, the minister was preparing to go out. Where was he going to? That I can’t tell, but I told him: “Sir, you are well dressed”. Immediately, he smiled from ear to ear. And, strangely, a man who looked as though he was in hurry to leave when I came in suddenly went into slow motion, and he replied: “I have spent most of my life in Paris, the global capital of fashion. That explains why I make sure am always well dressed and in a trendy manner.” And he went on: “I am not like the other minister who is a railway trade unionist and a communist, who studied in the former Soviet Union”. Then, after our conversation, I don’t know whether, he really wanted to go out or he simply wanted to show me his latest suit from Paris, he went into his room, changed and don a new suit. He behaved as if he was in a dress rehearsal for a male fashion parade.

Show and tell

The way the latter mentioned government minister reacted is a well known attribute of Congolese elite: show and tell. Most of them are also very pretentious.  Congolese elite like to dress well and take good care of their physic by buying expensive perfumes and also sadly, use bleaching creams to whiten up. Remember this rule, which must not be neglected in Congo: you must constantly compliment Congolese elite and never criticize him/her, if you want to have any favors. The other brand of Congolese elite is that, his dresses won’t be given any consideration, if they are not bought in France. That is, his suits, tie, shirt and shoes. This concerns not only the top alpha male but also women belonging to the “happy few circles”. 

Congo Brazzaville: La Republique du MABOBA or Eat, Drink and Sex

DRC & Cameroon

Whereas in the DRC, youths have famous musical stars such as Koffi Olumide, Faly Ipupa or a businessman such as Moise Katumbi to copy from or take as role models and in Cameroon, youths also have a football star such as Samuel Eto’o or businessman such as Baba Danpulou to look after or consider as role models, but in Congo it is different.

Congo Brazzaville: a unique place

However, as earlier mentioned, it will be unfair for me to claim that, Congolese youths are disproportionately lazy or that, the country doesn’t have endogenous businessmen or cultural stars for youths to look up to as role models. Congo being a unique place, its famous musician currently, Rogatien Ibambi aka Roga-Roga is famous according to Congo Brazzaville standard, but supported or promoted by Jean Dominique Okemba. Its known businessmen: Paul Obambi (see profile) and Vincent Gomez (see profile), are front men for politically connected leaders, even though they are in denial. Even the youthful, Veron Mankou, who claimed to have created the first African smart-phone and who now promotes of Vox TV and Vox magazine, is supported by Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso. This simply means that, most of those who could have provided an alternative are not really inspirations out of the political box. Instead their success help perpetuate  the generally held notions that, politics, especially supporting the ruling Nguesso family, holds the key to success for men and  for Congolese women and girls, getting married to an old baron of the ruling party or prostitution are the only paths to success.

General overview: La Republique du MABOBA

My perception of Congo is that, it has become like Cuba during the reign of Fulgencio Batista. It is the paradise of leisure and pleasure with it unique trademark: La Republique du MABOBA: Manger, Boire et Baiser or in English: Eat, Drink and Sex.  It is a trademark that most political and economic leaders connected to the ruling PCT party are proud sell to their guests. This is also the only country in the world where government ministers are proud to claim that, all their country can offer are: Eat, Drink and Sex. This will be developed at the conclusion of this book. Besides the above, the country has also become the land of hypocrisy and a strange kind of flattery, which are mixtures between French good manners and strange Congolese traditions. It is also the land whose current leadership has made a travesty of all Congolese and African cultural values. In Congo, as you will read later on, adults seldom grow old, hence matured men refused to be referred to as “fathers.” They prefer to be called “Grand frère” or elder brother. 

Congo Brazzaville: Politics and Prostitution

Politics & Prostitution: the only industries

Perhaps there are other countries on the continent with similar traits, but in the meantime, this is the only country that I have visited and stayed wherein youths: male and female consider politics as a profession. It is especially pronounced among males, who have no jobs and consider politics as the only way-out of unemployment and also out of poverty. As far as most Congolese women, in particular those within the age bracket above mentioned are concern, they have two aspirations:  get married, not to a young man, but to an old rich baron of the ruling PCT or get into prostitution. Comparatively, youths: male and female in neighbouring DRC, might like politics and all what I am decrying, they nonetheless want to be successful musicians or businessmen or excel in any liberal profession. While in Cameroon, youths want to become successful footballers or successful businessmen and women.

Why they prefer politics & prostitution

However, there is a reason why in both Cameroon and DRC, youths have different benchmarks of success as opposed to Congolese youths. It should not sound as though, there are no ambitious youths: Male and Female in Congo, but the reasons why they seem to love politics and prostitution lies in the in r role models produced in the countries latter mentioned.

Congo Brazzaville

In Congo, political cronyism is the only path to success since the communist took power in 1968. This trend has been exacerbated under Sassou Nguesso. It has been consolidated after the recent 2016 March 20th controversial presidential election, which has given ministerial posts to people such as: Leon Juste Imbombo (see profile), Leonidas Motomb and Elvis Digne Okombi Tsalisant to name just these few. The first was a propagandist and supporter of a political movement created by Edgard Nguesso, nephew of the President, while the second was a jobless man in France and got promoted because of his support for the ruling Nguesso family. As for the third, he was the head of a pro-Sassou Nguesso militia known as a “Pona Ecolo”.  They are currently the role models to most jobless youths in Congo. 

The Republic of Congo's glorious past

Glorious past

Although Congo under Sassou Nguesso may have become a depraved place, depending on which side you stand politically and ideologically, the truth is that, the country wasn’t always the negative place it has become today. Congo has now become a byword for summary executions, wonton arrest of political adversaries and a senseless war wedged in south of the Pool region that has the hallmarks of genocide. This war that is draining the coffers of an already ruined country, started on the 4^th of April 2016, when Sassou Nguesso, in a bid to steal the electoral victory of the opposition, claimed that, they were defending the south of Brazzaville from attacks of Ninjas of Pastor Ntumi. Congo was not what she has become even after the communist through Alphonse Massamba-Debat took over power in 1963. The country used to be a cultural and intellectuals beehive. She had even produced some of the best musicians, writers and politicians such as Zao, Sony Labou Tansi and Tchikaya Utamsi, whose aura transcends the colonially inherited linguistic and cultural barriers of the continent.

 

In media and journalism, even though the Republic of Congo has become hell for journalists and free media, she was the first country in French-speaking black Africa to have a television station. Her Radio, Radio Brazzaville, which later became known as La Voix de la Revolution, although it propounded pro-Marxist revolutionary ideologies, it was a source of information to most Africans, in particular those fighting against colonialism: Angola, Namibia and Mozambique or had colonially back regimes such as those of Cameroon, under Ahmadou Ahidjo, Ivory Coast under Houphouet Boigny or Gabon under Omar Bongo.  Politically in 90s, while neighbouring Cameroon and other majority French-speaking African countries refused to host sovereign national conferences to rethink the forms of their states, Congo was the first country in French-speaking Africa to organize a sovereign national conference. It was a conference that brought together Congolese of different political opinions to discuss the future and form of their country. The conclusions of the sovereign national conference laid the foundation for multiparty democracy, which culminated with the country’s first post independence multiparty presidential elections held in 1992. The incumbent then, was Denis Sassou Nguesso who lost to Professor Pascal Lissouba and conceded defeat. It was perhaps the best period in Congolese post colonial history, for it raised the profile of the country abroad.

Congo is gone

Sadly today, Congo is no longer a paragon in the exercise of independent journalism or free media, but she has become the quintessence of propaganda and manipulations and persecution of journalists and free press.  The Congo of excellence, prestige and leadership is gone. It has made way to a new culture that doesn’t honor pre and post independent Congo. A country which was once a pacesetter in revolutionary ideas such as pan africansim and the liberation of other oppressed Africans, as noticed with the roles they played in the liberation of Angola and the support that, they offered to French-Cameroonian nationalists of the UPC.  Congo is now a land topped by decadent culture of all sorts.