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. 

Sadio Kante-Morel: profile of a journalist fighting against the 33 years misrule of Denis Sassou Nguesso

Sadio Kante-Morel: Until she became the flagship rabble-rouser on the streets and halls of France, rallying the Congolese and French-speaking black African Diaspora against the 33 years misrule of Denis Sassou Nguesso and other dictators, Sadio Kante-Morel was a seasoned reporter. She was a stringer with Thompson Reuters and the BBC Afrique in West Africa. It was an occasion that took her to several hotspots on the continent, in particular in the north of Ivory Coast, when it was under the control of the rebels, who are currently governing in Abidjan. And while in Congo, she was concomitantly stringing for Reuters and also collaborating or taking part at regular intervals in TV programmes on MNTV. The programme where she most participated was Point de Press. This programme was anchored by Emery Patrice Orbargui. Sadio Kante-Morel, who is a widow with only one child, is dedicated to her job and also a fearless militant against corruption and against dictatorship. Because of her dedication to her job, she most often neglects herself and doesn’t care about her looks. The dreadlock, eyeglass wearing and chaining smoke lady, is the only high profile female journalist of Congo presently.  Even though, she is now fully dedicated militant in France to see the back of Denis Sassou Nguesso, she remains professionally a journalist. This can be seen through her posts on her Facebook page where she interviews politicians and civil society activists of Congo from both sides of the divide.

Congo is a pathetic country for female journalists and professional women in general. It is a country where the system has destroyed any entrepreneurial spirits in women.  However this aspect will be developed on the chapter on Congolese culture.  The sad thing with the journalism profession in Congo is that, since female journalists such as Solange Samba Touyou, Arlette Soudan-Nonault and Marie Jeanne Colombo, left the profession, Congo no longer has high calibre female journalists capable of handling major economic or political programmes on TV, Radio and also in the print media. Today, most female Congolese journalists, especially those who are on TV and to a certain level radio, are not professionally ambitious.  Their presence on TV or Radio is a stepping stone to getting married or to be seen by powerful old and corrupt politicians or superficial businessmen. Hence in most newsrooms in Congo, whenever there are squabbles amongst female journalists, it is not for professional reasons. But their disputes occur because they want to accompany a minister or a member of the ruling party on mission to the interior of the country. For they are of the opinion that,  luck might smile to one of them and she will be selected as the mistress or second or even fourth wife of the minister or high ranking politician who came to solicit the service of their media house to send them as reporters to cover his activity.

It is a pitiable observation that I have made while in Congo. By contrast, in other Africans countries such as the DRC, Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin and Senegal, female journalists are competing with their male colleagues professionally. In Congo, female journalists are instead competing with each to sleep with the most influential politicians, in order to have a RAV4 SUV or a trip to Paris or Dubai. However, Sadio Kante-Morel and perhaps two other journalists, whose profile you will soon read, were the exceptions to rule. Because of Sadio’s devotion to her job, she was expelled from her native country Congo to Mali. Sadio Kante-Morel is a pure Congolese born in the populous neighbourhood of Poto-poto, from Senegalo-Malian immigrant parents. She speaks fluent lingala.

Even though her parents are Muslims, she is not a practicing Muslim and has the liberal behavior of any women born in Christian and animist equatorial Africa. It is refreshing to find an independent and also bold female journalist working professionally, the way Sadio did until her expulsion and this, in a country where women are not professionally ambitious. It is not as though there are no female journalists in Congo. There are a good number of them. However none has been able to singularize herself professionally as Sadio has done within the electronic media. However, the only problem with Sadio, if it is really one, is that, she likes smoking and she also talks a lot. On the positive side, she is not rancorous and professionally, she likes investigative journalism with an insatiable desire for risk taking. She adores being the first on a story or making the breaking news. She was even the one who first broke the news of my spectacular armed robbery and the gang rape of my younger sister on the night of the 9^th breaking September 10^th 2014. The fact that through social media she informed the world about my gruesome attack, it was never appreciated by the hierarchy of the Police and in chief, Jean Francois Ndenguet. She is also digital savvy, in a country where journalists: men and women are on the same level in their ignorance of new media. Sadio Kante-Morel gets angry very fast, but as mentioned earlier, she keeps very little or no grudges. She is perhaps the only journalist in Congo male and female who have received record aggressions and attacks from the Police.

Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas MP: Profile of the one presented as perhaps the best politician of his generation

Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas MP: he was until his dismissal from office, because he was openly against President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s plans to change of the constitution, a government minister. He was heading the ministry of Public service. He is still an MP for the centre right MCDDI political party.  His political formation is the second biggest intra parliamentary opposition after UPADS of Pascal Tsaty Mabiala. He might not be flamboyant politically, but he has two assets: he is the biological son of Bernard Kolelas. Late Kolelas was one of Congo’s most controversial but nonetheless, respected nationalist and staunchly opposed to Communism. The opposition of late senior Kolelas to Communism forced him into exile on several occasions and he also was jailed by almost all post independent political leaders of Congo.  Bernard Kolelas, the father of Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas, was former prime minister of Pascal Lissouba, former MP for BasCongo and former lord mayor of the Brazzaville Greater City Council. The second asset of Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas is that, he is a native from a region that has perhaps the best trained or the most educated people in Congo with a high sense of tribal or ethnocentric unity. The people of the Pool region, because of their high literacy rate are considered Congo’s second colonial masters after France. Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas ethnic group is known as the Laris. They are the largest ethnic groups in the Pool region. Because they are not only better educated, they are also one of the most hardworking tribes in Congo, hence they are present all over the country.

During colonial times or period, they were mostly used as auxiliaries of the French, hence they are known as Congo’s second colonial masters. Furthermore, while about 80% of the country is Christian, the Pool is the only region in the country that has been able to produce its own indigenous religions that exist alongside Christianity. They also the proponents fashion or dressing style called “la Sapoulogie”, which has become one of Congo’s greatest cultural identity and export, besides music and literature. This shows how advance the people of the Pool region are, as compared to other parts of the country. Mindful of all the aforementioned regional and filial advantages, Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas, knows that, he has a future in Congolese politics with or without Denis Sassou Nguesso. There are some observers such as Leon Juste Imbombo who thinks that, by comparison with his cousin, Hellot Matson Mampouya, Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas has no future without the alliance singed between his late father’s and Denis Sassou Nguesso. Personally, I think Leon Juste appraisal of Guy Brice is not honest or outright biased. But Alphonse Ndongo, a journalist, shares my point of view and thus has a different perception from those expressed by Leon Juste Imbombo. Alphonse Ndongo thinks, Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas is the best political personality of his generation. And he adds: The fact that, he is calm and respectful and also slow to react on national or international issues, does mean that, he is weak or politically naïve.

As for Arlette Soudan-Nonault, she thinks that, while Guy Brice might be a formidable politician, he doesn’t respect, the political pact signed between his late father and Denis Sassou Nguesso. In the opinion of Mrs. Soudan-Nonault, Guy Brice is trampling upon or reneging on the memory of his late father and to her, it is not African such an attitude. Guy Brice rejects such accusations and says, he is not duty bound to honour any pact signed by his late father with Denis Sassou Nguesso, especially done in the weak position that his late father was and which might today not be in the interest of Congolese.  Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas is in my opinion unpredictable, which some might regard as a weakness, but it only adds to his mythic and political capital that he has inherited from his father. Unlike his father, he is not tribal or regionally oriented, even though as of now, his party seems regionally based. However to his discharge, the present political dispensation in the country where there is no free and faire elections might be the real deterrent to his party to expand beyond its Pool and Brazzaville fiefs. He is also different from his father not just because he is better educated, but more because he is open minded and tolerant, for his wife is an ethnic Mbouchi from Bondji and not from the Pool or Brazzaville regions as is the custom of many from his area.

The Mbouchi and the Lari are two enemy tribes in the country because of the opposing views of two of their best known contemporary sons: Bernard Kolelas and Denis Sassou Nguesso. Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas is a member of one of the country’s best known and well respected political dynastic family and who has been able to show that, he can make his way without the support of his late father. Behind his calm and efface demeanor, hides a formidable political phoenix. The eyeglass wearing and soft spoken man goes in trance, whenever he is addressing a public rally. Furthermore, he also masters macro and micro economic policies and has a clear cut economic programme for Congo. He is also one of the rare political leaders, who have a clear cut political ideology, for his party or the party that he inherited is a centre right movement. He is a practicing Christian and married. His party, abbreviated MCCDI, is a centre right political formation, in a predominantly communist oriented and centre left leaning country, at least as portrayed by most political leaders and their parties.  

Pierre Ngolo MP:Used and dumped by Denis Sassou Nguesso

Pierre Ngolo MP: he is the secretary general of the ruling Congolese Workers Party abbreviated in French as PCT. He became the unexpected secretary general of the ruling party by the wish of the president of the Republic who is the chair of the party. This happened in 2011, at the end of the extraordinary congress of the party, which also set the ground work, for the demise of the left leaning party created by Commandant Marien Ngouabi. Pierre Ngolo who is a secondary school teach by profession, was until his appointment as secretary general, one of the administrators at the national assembly and also a member of parliament for Ouenze. He took over from Mr Isidore Mvouba, who was the interim secretary general.  Because of the proximity of Isidore Mvouba to the president and also for the need to give or create a regional balance, many observers had thought that, Isidore Mvouba would be confirmed into the function of secretary general of the ruling party. And the fact that, Mvouba was not confirmed to the post of secretary general of the ruling party has made those same observers to conclude that, president Denis Sassou Nguesso did not have confidence in Isidore Mvouba, who is one of his most loyal supporters. The 2011 extraordinary congress of the ruling party which was held to nominate or chose the successor of late Ambroise Noumazalaye, who was the last charismatic and influential figure of the Communist oriented party.

Angling to lead

The 2011 extraordinary congress of the PCT had an impressive array of high profile candidates angling to lead one of the country’s biggest political formations. Those who wanted to succeed the late Ambroise Noumazalaye were: Rudolph Adada, former minister of foreign affairs and corporation and current minister of transport, Andre Okombi Salissa MP and former minister of basic education, Henri Djoumbo, minister of forestry economy and the then interim secretary general, Isidore Mvouba MP. Others who had nursed the secret plans to become secretary general were: Michel Ngakala, who is the current deputy secretary general in charge of organization and Senator Oba Aponou. The Irony in it was that, even though all those above mentioned were close allies of the president, none had the support of the president of the Republic. For the president is not only egocentric, he is a man who is very suspicious and yields easily to conspiracy theories. Furthermore, Denis Sassou Nguesso wanted at the head of the ruling party, someone that he could manipulate easily. In short, Denis Sassou Nguesso wanted someone who did not have any personality or national political ambitions especially that, he was already nursing plans to elongate his stay at the helms of the affairs of the state. Pierre Ngolo MP was therefore his wild cat pick for the post of secretary general and also an important link, whenever he will start strategizing to change the constitution of the country.

Roles of Pierre Ngolo

Pierre Ngolo played two roles on behalf Denis Sassou Nguesso. What is not known is whether it was willful or not. The first was that, Pierre Ngolo was used by Denis Sassou Nguesso in order to neutralize all the aforementioned ambitious friends of his. The second role that he was needed was to serve as a fuse and straw man at the same time. Denis Sassou calculated that, in case pressure from the international community was intense against his term elongation, his next plans was to call for an extraordinary congress of the ruling party, that will enthrone his son Denis –Christel Sassou Nguesso as presidential candidate in 2016. In this strategy, the president needed someone who is not strong willed and who has less political credibility and Pierre Ngolo, was the best pick.

Denis Sassou Nguesso & the 1989 UTA airliner bombing

In fact, President Denis Sassou Nguesso had never had plans to leave power and even in 1992, he conceded defeat to Pascal Lissouba simply because, he was under pressure from late President Francois Mitterrand,  following  Denis Sassou Nguesso’s alleged complicity  with Muammar Gaddafi in the bombing of French UTA airliner over the  Tenere desert in Niger in 1989. It is also reported within power circle in Brazzaville that, in the Libya and Chad   war over the northern Chadian territory of band Aouzou, Denis Sassou Nguesso was on the side of Libya.  And since Colonel Gaddafi was a friend of Colonel Denis Sassou Nguesso, Libya’s leader, decided to send Libyan terrorists or bomb experts to Brazzaville to plant a bomb in a UTA flight that was to fly to Paris via several African capitals. And one of the stops of UTA was Ndjamena, the capital of Chad. And in Ndjamena, President Hissene Habre had to board that plane because, he was going to Paris, France. The Libyan plan was that, the plane will take off and explode out of Chadian territory, killing in the process the Chadian leader who was viscerally opposed to Libyan expansionism and who had inflicted heavy defeats on Libyan forces.. Meanwhile  in Brazzaville, Denis Sassou Nguesso who had given his approval and supported the Libyan plan to kill Hissene Habre , did inform three Congolese of his plans. They were: Senator Oba Apounou, General Norbert Dabira and Auxence Ickonga, who was the third African director of Air Afrique.

However, since Auxence Ickonga was a friend to late President Mobutu, he (Auxence Ickonga) decided to inform Mobutu. And Mobutu in turn decided to inform Hissene Habre, asking him not board the UTA flight from Brazzaville to Paris via Ndjamena. On that, same flight, several Congolese lost their lives amongst them, the daughter of trade-unionist, Bokamba Yagouma. It also explained the reason why, Bokamba had a vitriolic anti Denis Sassou Nguesso approach in the 90s.  When the French discovered the implication of Denis Sassou Nguesso in the UTA crash, they decided not support him in 1992 against Pascal Lissouba. It was Paris own way to punish their protégé. It is also reported that, when Denis Sassou Nguesso discovered that, it was Auxence Ickonga, who leaked the secret to Mobutu, Auxence was allegedly poisoned by Congo’s president using a woman whose name can’t be mentioned here on.  

 Case De Gaulle

I have met with Pierre Ngolo, three times.  The first time was at the official home or resident of the French ambassador located in the southern neighborhood of Brazzaville called BasCongo. And the name of the official home of the French ambassador in Congo is called Case De Gaulle. The old colonial building that still has the burst of the French leader, is said to be where he spent some time, when Brazzaville doubled as capital of French equatorial Africa and also capital of the free France or in the French language: France Libre. At that time, France was occupied by Nazi Germany. On that day at Case de GAULLE, Pierre Ngolo was in the company of Michel Ngakala, the organizing secretary general of the ruling party. Immediately he saw me, he verbally attacked me or should I put it mildly, aggressively questioned. He told me: why do you hate us? I replied: I do not hate you or your party.  And I added: I work for the elder brother of the President. How come I will hate you or your party? I am only doing my job and nothing else. I concluded: what I want you people to do is to be closer to the reality of the people’ and when that, is done, you will see that, the PCT will govern Congo for about 71 years just as the PRI or the Revolutionary Institutional Party has done in Mexico.

Little mastery of international affairs

The PRI is a member   of the international Socialist whereas, the Congolese ruling party, the PCT, which is a left leaning political formation, is not a member. Furthermore, the membership of the PRI to the International Socialist movements dates back to 1910, which is the year of the Mexican Revolution. It also attests to the left leaning credentials of the PRI, a testimony that, the Congolese ruling party can’t show or justify.   According to the online dictionary Wikipedia, it was the 40^th president of Mexico by name: Plutarco Elias Callas; who was born on the 25^th of September 1877 and who died on the 19^th of October 1945, who in 1929 gave the PRI, it proper left leaning orientation, through his populist rhetoric. But I was surprised that, the secretary general of the ruling party, a left leaning party, whose slogan was everything for the masses, never knew what PRI stood for nor where it was located on earth or even if it ever existed. Pierre Ngolo’s reaction confirmed what I have always thought about those ruling Congo and also made me to be more circumspect about the academic and current affair capabilities. But I was nonetheless very happy, when he asked me in French: le PRI, c’est quoi encore M. le journaliste? Or in English: what is the PRI all about Mr Journalist? I replied: PRI is a long standing ruling party in Mexico and they had governed the country for 71 years.  

At some point, they lost, because they began a war against the Catholics and that war was called the Cristero war. From there, I confirmed within me that, the secretary general of the ruling party had little mastery of international affairs and I put doubts his Socialist credentials. What I noticed with Pierre Ngolo was that, he was arrogant and self confident because he knew he had the support of the president and cared very less about what the people said or thought about him or the party that, he was steering. I proposed or suggested to him that, I would like to have an interview with in my live TV programme called La Grande Interview. To which he did not accept, but only replied in French: pourquoi pas or why not in English.

The second time that I met with him was on the 25^th of March 2014, at 11am. It was a Tuesday. It was on the 4^th floor of the rented headquarters of the ruling party. I met him and we talked about my proposal made to him on Sunday March 23^rd at Case De Gaulle. But what I did for him, I had never done that, before with any of my guest. I wanted to show him that, I was not against him, the ruling party or the president as the destructive rumor mill have been churning out against me within the ruling party  in their plot to kill. I gave him a questionnaire and even told him the points on which, I will focus on should he accept to be the guest of my programme. I did as already mentioned, because I wanted to show him that, contrary to what they have been thinking, I was not against them. But it was a mistake as it turned out. What I had learn from my experience in Congo is that, you must be yourself no matter what people may say, especially when you know that, what you are doing is correct. Furthermore, mindful that, my programme was widely watched, I wanted to give them a positive image. 

Francophobia

But while I was in his office, what he first told me, after welcoming me in his office was this: you are here in my office with a diary from the French embassy. His reaction was because I was holding a diary and it was a gift that, the French embassy gave to many personalities. I am sure, that, he also had one. And he added: the French that, you so love are not only our enemy but the enemy of Africans. He went on: The French hate us. I found his reaction strange, for a senior member of a party that came to power through French support. It was unfair to have such francophobia.  From his reaction, I now understood where the rumor making rounds that, I was a French spy came from. In Congo, I had been labeled an agent of the CIA and also an agent of the DGSE, the French intelligence service. This name tag was prepared by some elite within the ruling party, whose aim was to blackmail, since they were afraid and did not like my way of doing investigative journalism. I saw firsthand what Jean Bruno Richard Itoua had told me. For Mr Jean Bruno Richard Itoua had told me and as already mentioned earlier that, Congo was a country of professional conspiracy theorists and specialists in blackmail.  That is, the strategy of destruction and smear campaign that was deeply ingrained the mindset of Congolese political elite. I also knew that, my character was destroyed beyond repair, but as the saying goes here: a dead person is not afraid of the coffin.  I was already a dead man walking in Congo because of my job.

Then it also down on me that, even though the ruling party was not affiliated to the International Socialist, it was still nonetheless a socialist and Marxist oriented party,  at it base and at as such, she was naturally inclined to  conspirationalist and character assassination. At the end of my meeting with Pierre Ngolo, we nevertheless agreed for a date for our interview. But it was very difficult to have him respect his own programme. It was thanks to the personal persuasive aptitudes of Arlette Soudan-Nonault, his former special adviser, who succeeded to him to accept or respect the promise that he had made to me. However, what really made him to accept to be the guest of my interviewing programme, called La Grande Interview, was a lie that I said to both him and to Mrs. Arlette Soudan-Nonault. I aware that both knew that, Pierre Ngolo had little or no legitimacy within the party, especially amongst party cadres. They both knew that, without the president of the republic imposing him, he stood no chance of ever getting at the top of the ruling party. I also knew that, he was the political foe of Isidore Mvouba, the former interim secretary general.

My lies or bluff paid off

I also knew that, they mutually hate each other to point that, they almost exchange blows during one of the meeting of the political bureau of the party. Mindful of all the above, I called him one day and told him that: I have waited for too long for you to grant me an interview. And since you have refused or not you are not interested, Mr Isidore Mvouba is ready to come and you must know that, after she speaks, your legitimacy will be gone. I also called Arlette Soudan-Nonault and repeated what I had said to Pierre Ngolo and she exclaimed and told me: never mind, he will come.  While she had little or no respect for Pierre Ngolo, she hated Isidore Mvouba equally. However, she had never told me why she did not like Isidore Mvouba. My guess is that, she was not certain of Isidore Mvouba’s loyalty to the president who is also her uncle. She thinks that, her uncle must still rule the country because, there a still a lot of old wounds that needs to be healed before he leaves. She told me that, in case the president leaves power, the country will be plunged into another civil war. What she failed to say was that, it is also because most dictators have wiped around them and within the country any form of competence and credible opposition, is also the reason why after them, there is always  chaos. But what is interesting is that, my lies or bluff paid off. He accepted and came for the interview on condition that, it should be a recorded programme. I also accepted and that was the second concession that I did for them and which I had never done to others.

Null and void

But the interview revealed that, he was like most cadres of the ruling party. Null and void He was cut off from the reality of ordinary Congolese. He never knew or never had figures of jobs created since 2009, the year, when their candidate now president was re-elected on the promise of massive job creation. The reality was that, besides civil service jobs, they had created nothing. Unemployment and poverty was high. The health and education system broken and even culture an area where Congo used to excel was moribund. He was the secretary general of a party that did not even pay staff who worked with them.  The interview exposed the ruling party to a point that, Jean Michel Odzocki, former minister of sports and official spokesman  for the ruling party came over to me after the interview and pleaded that, I should carry out some editing on places where the secretary general made monumental gaffs. I accepted. And it was the third concession that I made to the ruling party because of the intervention of Mr. Odzocki, who was a former journalist by profession and also a friend. I did all this to prove to them that, I was not hostile to them but it did not save me when they decided to attack and gang raped my younger sister and also expelled me when I wanted to protest. I have learned from my experience in Congo that, you must be yourself.

When you are sure that, what you are doing is correct, don’t change course in spite criticism or pressure. This is so because, your critics have already made up their minds no matter how you change to please them, they won’t change. Pierre Ngolo is a proud man whose accession at the head of the party is related to the desire of the president to have someone who is docile and manipulative. It is not based on merit nor for the well being of the ruling party. It is the desire of a president who contrary to appearance doesn’t seem to stand challenges and doesn’t entertain unpredictable people. It might be good for his personal ambition but inimical to the party and also the country. As for Pierre Ngolo, he has no future, for he is not charismatic and he is also devoid of any personality. Under him, the ruling party can’t win nor grow. But he doesn’t care. After all, he did not lobby for the post. All he is interested in is the prestige that comes with the post.

Mrs. Arlette Soudan-Nonault: Sassou Nguesso's weapon of mass destabilisation (Profile)

She is a former journalist and former special adviser to Pierre Ngolo MP, secretary general of the ruling Congolese Workers Party abbreviated in French as PCT. In her early 50s and married to a French journalist by name Francois Soudan, Arlette Soudan-Nonault, is one of the rare women and member of the ruling party who is capable to express herself intelligently, honestly and this, without fear. She is not a hypocrite. She is real. But too modern for a party and system that has medieval tribal practices. She is also technologically savvy within a movement that doesn’t know where they (PCT) stand for, ideologically. The ruling PCT, that, she is a member, is a political movement that, is more pruned to corruption than working for the common man. Hence, it has a problem not only of image, but also of credibility amongst the population. This is so because, most members of the ruling party are worn-out and corrupt old men, who do not want to create chance for internal renewal. The PCT of Mrs. Soudan-Nonault is out of touch with reality.

It is a political party, for old men, who have taken their old chairman (Denis Sassou Nguesso) hostage. It is also a party that, detest the presence of independent women: young or old within their rank. Arlette Soudan-Nonault seems to be an exception to the rule within the ruling party, even though there are some women like her within the ruling party. She is an exception in that, she is bold and ready to take out her sword from its quiver to challenge the established order.  She is honest to a point that, within the ruling party and within the ruling Nguesso family that she is part of, she is not appreciated by some members, because of her outspokenness. Mindful that, her outspokenness has marginalized her within the hierarchy of the PCT, she has distant herself from the ruling party and has created a think tank called Athena. The think tank, she says, has been created to make independent and objective contributions directly to the President of the Republic, for she is of the opinion that, the president of the Republic (Denis Sassou Nguesso) is poorly advised by his official advisers within the government and also within the ruling PCT party.  

Asked why such a brilliant young woman and a former journalist with western education would support such nepotism inclined, violent and corrupt regime?  Her answer is metaphorical and euphemistic. I am for evolution and not revolution.  She replies. And she adds: I will rather prefer to stand by Ali, than support the 40 thieves, who have been enriched by Ali and will throw the country into chaos, if given the opportunity prematurely. She concludes her metaphoric and euphemistic response justifying her fanatical support of President Denis Sassou Nguesso by saying this: the President is laying the foundation of democratic appeasement in the country and will leave power by 2021, a time when, the country is expected to have been exorcized of its demons of divisions and rancor. Arlette Soudan-Nonault, believes that, her contributions to the President, if taken into consideration, could help improved the  battered image of the president and also make him attractive in view of his plans to change the constitution and his re-elections.

She has little or no respect for most members of the opposition. The only member of the opposition that she respects is Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes, affectionately known as Nick. She claims that, Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes is different from the rest because he is not only respectful, but he has an excellent appraisal of the political reality of the country currently. As for the rest of the opposition, she refers to them as a band of rogues whose only ambitions are to throw the country into chaos. For she also thinks that, they have no other programme or agenda other than, hatred for the President. She also thinks that, most people around the president are in league with the opposition, thus fanning the embers to destabilize the President. In other words, President Denis Sassou Nguesso seems to be alone and is not sure or certain of his fate should he relinquishes power. Hence he wants to hang on until death takes him away. Her posture has made her not to have friends within the party and also within a section of the ruling family. Her only reliable friends are the President of the Republic and her husband.

Mrs. Soudan-Nonault, who owns one of the best private schools in Congo, called: institute Saint Francois D’Assise de Makabandilou, located in the north of Brazzaville, is in spite everything, a force to be counted on within the ruling PCT party, presently and also in the future. That is if, President Denis Sassou Nguesso stays onto power, as she firmly believes, he will and he decides to reward her for her zealotry. But the cruel Congolese political reality that seems to elude Mrs Arlette Soudan-Nonault is that, a bright and brilliant woman such as her, cannot blossom politically in a party like the PCT and in a system such as the one instituted in Congo and within the ruling party by Denis Sassou Nguesso a system that is characterized by mutual mistrust, cynicism, disloyalty, greed and treachery. Whether she likes it or not, she is a disposal material that would be used by her uncle of a President and dispensed off, whenever, the apparatchik of the ruling party decides to ignite, the ignition of their destructive steamroller against her. But she seems not to care and she is ready because of her principles, which is not known whether it is idealism or realism or both, to be the sacrificial lamb of her uncle.

The ruling Congolese Workers Party is a cynical  party populated by  macho old men who are not only corrupt but, who are more busy fighting for themselves and their family and do not even care about the improvement the lot of the country or even improve the image of the President who made them to become what they are today. The ruling party in Congo is a party of ingrates and that is where Mrs. Soudan-Nonault, thinks she can she change or improve things. Nonetheless, Mrs. Soudan-Nonault has the merit and the courage to fight and also defend and also attempt to sell a president who is synonymous to an expired product. This alone speaks volumes not only of her character, but also of her determination. Mrs. Soudan-Nonault is a fighter and a positive one, but she is in a wrong camp or wrong side of history. Some would conclude. But time they say, is the best and honest judge. The other woman that I have met and interviewed like Arlette Soudan-Nonault is Gilda Rosemonde Ngambo.