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.

Paris-Brazzaville: Jean Philippe Kabore and the struggle for the soul of Telesud

Jean Philippe Kabore was at least able to generate through commercial contracts the sum of eight hundred thousand Euros for Telesud and kept the media house running. And while Jean Philippe Kabore was struggling with Telesud, a media that, the Bongos do occasionally use as their weapon of propaganda and also a formidable mace used to blackmail political rivals internally or countries whose leaders they didn’t like, the Bongos who are the owners, were busy fighting amongst each other for the economic and mostly political control of Gabon before and immediately after the death of their father, President Omar Bongo Ondimba. Telesud is sadly, not the only so-called pan African media house funded by African dictators. The other notable ones are Africa 24 and Afrique Media in French-speaking Africa. Some African dictators do also fund numerous newspapers and magazines. One thing with them all is that, they were not created to inform in an impartial manner, but were created for the propaganda of those leaders. Late Omar Bongo Ondimba created or funded Telesud and he did it, mostly at the time when he began facing internal and external pressure to leave power.

Before Omar Bongo Ondimba died in 2009, he had ruled Gabon for 42 years. Currently, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasongo is funding two so-called pan African media houses, namely Africa 24 and Afrique Media. But in his country, there is no free speech and he has been in power for 36 years and not thinking of leaving. President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who also has been in power for 30 years, is no different. In his country, there is no free speech and journalists might not be in jail, but they are either killed or tortured and expelled, if they are foreigners. He too wants to have his own pan African media and he has been rewarded with Africanews, which is a subsidiary of the pan European television called Euronews.  And that explains in part, the reasons why, you won’t find them covering or reporting on human rights abuses or popular revolts like the ones that recently took place in Burundi, Burkina Faso or the major opposition rally that took place in Brazzaville, Congo on the 27^th of September 2015. These media are not handicapped financially or technically as they sometimes claim.  

That also explains why, those who want to be informed on the  African continent relies mostly on western media such as the British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC), Cable News Network(CNN), Voice of America(VOA), Radio France International(rfi) and France 24 for credible information. Even though, they are sometimes biased or do stereotype the continent. But for the time being, there are no other alternatives until a credible African broadcaster emerges. However, with the coming up social media, especially Facebook, new independent and credible sources of information dissemination have started emerging and are challenging and also circumventing African governments and their censorship. There exist some good examples which are the cases of Sahara Reporter in Nigeria and News 24 in South Africa. The influence of the first contributed greatly in the peaceful alternation of political power in Nigeria in 2015.  And as regards Telesud, in spite all the efforts invested by Jean Philippe Kabore, he was not being supported financially by the Gabonese for reasons abovementioned and also because Jean Philippe was a Blackman.

However, when Bernard Volker and his white team came in, the Gabonese gave them a starting budget of Euros 5 million. Bernard Volker it must be recalled is a retired white French journalist with little or no knowledge of Africa.  But he came to Telesud not to improve on it performance. It seems it was only to make money and also for the group who followed Bernard Volker to Israel that Telesud have become for them. His first commercial operation was in Central African Republic and it was resounding flop. Telesud was paid the sum of Euros 50 thousand for an operation worth Euros 6 hundred thousand. While to his discharge it could be said he failed in Central African Republic because he did not know or understand how things worked, what he can’t be pardon was the spirit that he introduced when he was appointed. He claimed that, he wanted a new dawn professionally, but he began fighting everybody especially the news service. And the grand question that some staff began asking was this: How will the news service look like when Bernard Volker decided to attack Louis Magloire Keumayou, it founding and most influential member?

That was the question being asked by other staff when, it was clear that, Bernard Volker has decided to go to war against Louis Magloire Keumayou. Besides the tense atmosphere introduced into Telesud by Bernard Volker and his team, I hated the fact that, there was no more independence or objectivity in the way we treated or covered events. During the 2009 presidential elections that saw Ali Bongo Ondimba, the son of Omar Bongo Ondimba elected controversially as President of the Republic of Gabon, I was barred from interviewing opposition party candidates, in particular Mr. Mba Obam. Mr. Mba Obam, now late, was the main challenger of Ali Bongo Ondimba. I was disappointed, for I thought that, since the management was now in the hands of French whites, claimed to free and liberal professionally, we were also to be free to practice our profession independently. But it was a great mistake. It was total censorship, a thing that never happened under Jean Philippe Kabore, started happening. 

Paris-Brazzavile: Blaise Louembe, the emissary of Pascaline Mferri Bongo Ondimba

What is not known is whether he was forced to or whether it was simply that, he was a Gaullist zealot.  It is something or a period that, the truth will never been known because I think Bernard Volker will not like to talk about. Bernard Volker is also known to have worked in both the United States and in Germany as correspondent for TF1. He is fluent in both English and German. But the coming of Bernard Volker at the head of a television station that was made up in majority of Africans from north and sub Saharan Africa and the Caribbean was not well received by the staff. It staff said that, the inferiority complex of the Gabonese have forced them to hand over the management of the first pan African television station to French whites whose only interest  was to make money. In fact the coming of Bernard Volker at the helms of 3 A Telesud that became known only as Telesud, also marked the end of its ambitions and originality. Bernard Volker made a lot of promises. He promised to transform or change everything. He promised regular and timely payment of salaries. The payment of salaries regularly and on time was the only piece of good news that came along with the takeover of Telesud by white men. For before they came, staff stayed for between two-three months without pay. The station also owed Globecast, the satellite distributing company, about three hundred and fifty thousand Euros. Besides owing Globecast, Telesud also owed rents for the offices that we were using at Cognac Jay. They owed twenty six thousand Euros in unpaid rents. 3 A Telesud was a company that was slowly but effectively going to be closed. But it must be pointed out that, Jean Philippe Kabore was no longer receiving financial support from the Gabonese. A thing that changed immediately the whites came, the floodgates of financing was opened in Libreville. One of the reasons why Jean Philippe Kabore was no longer receiving funding from Libreville was because, before and after the death of President Omar Bongo Ondimba, the interim administration or the transition phase in Gabon made things a little bit tough for Pascaline Bongo Ondimba.

Especially that, Pascaline Bongo Ondimba rapport with Ali Bongo Ondimba her younger brother, who was formerly defense minister and currently President of the Republic, was fraught with suspicions and power tussle. And as a consequence, Telesud had to suffer because it was not the priority. But as things got worst financially for Telesud, Pascaline Bongo Ondimba fearful of media reaction and the consequences on their already battered image in France, she was obliged to dispatch one of her loyal friend to Paris to solve the financial and management problems of Telesud. The emissary was Blaise Louembe. Mr Louembe was Pascaline‘s loyal friend in the government of Gabon formed by her younger brother Ali Bongo Ondimba. Mr Louembe was a former minister of finance and former pay master general. He is currently minister of Sports of Gabon. He was born on the 20^th of February 1960 in Koulamoutou in Gabon. He was the one who regularly left Libreville for Paris with bank checks to settle debts on behalf of Pascaline Bongo Ondimba. Whenever he arrived with those checks in France, in order to avoid the monetary authorities of France to search or trace the origin of the checks, the said checks were recycled as payment for legal counseling carried out by Danielle Palazzo Gauthier.

In fact, besides legal services, Danielle Palazzo Gauthier also served to launder money for Pascaline Bongo Ondimba. The checks brought from Libreville were used to settle the debts aforementioned and also the payment of salary arrears. During the era of Jean Philippe Kabore, he was assisted by Jean Luc Beis in the administration. The other management staff was Jacob Aime Leboue who was the head of human resources while Louis Magloire Keumayou was the news director. The new era under Bernard Volker, the administration became lily white. Aurelian Delpeyroux was the operational manager while Sandrine Parpet was the assistant to Volker. For a while, Jacob Aime Leboue and Louis Magloire Keumayou were left into their functions but they were soon ejected. I suspect that, the new management never wanted a black person to hold any administrative or management functions within Telesud. 

Paris-Brazzaville: Danyele Palazzo Gauthier, advocate and money-woman of Pascaline Bongo Ondimba

President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s morale was affected heavily because; Edith was not only his official first born, but also the most intelligent amongst his 29 children. Furthermore, she was the only one besides his elder brother Maurice Nguesso who was loved by ordinary Congolese. Her lost was synonymous to the lost of clutches to a cripple.  If Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba were still alive today, some monumental strategic errors being committed by President Denis Sassou Nguesso and which might cause him his prestige and even presidency won’t have been committed. It explains why her death also sparked in President Denis Sassou Nguesso the desire to leave the political scene. Denis Sassou Nguesso was convinced to continue by the likes of Isidore Mvouba and Jean Jacques Bouya coupled with the medical assistance from Professor Claude Maylin.  So I was told by Ouamba Sassou Nguesso, one of the 29 children of the Congolese leader. As for Omar Bongo Ondimba, formerly Albert Bernard Bongo, he was the second president of Gabon after the death of Leon Mba.

President Bongo Ondimba had his names changed from Albert Bernard Bongo to Omar Bongo, when he became a Muslim, but the mother of Pascaline Bongo Ondimba told me that, he reconverted back to Christianity in his last days. As Omar Bongo Ondimba bowed out of stage, his daughter Pascaline Bongo Ondimba gave the administration of some of her father’s wealth and investments in France to her friend by name Danielle Palazzo Gauthier. 

Mrs. Gauthier is a lawyer. She is also the niece of Roland Dumas who was not only France’s foreign minister under late President Francois Mitterrand from 1984-1986 and from 1988-1993, he was also the head of France’s constitutional Court from 1995-1999. Besides those posts that Roland Dumas held, he was also a friend to late President Omar Bongo Ondimba. France’s political elite have always held special relationship with elite of French-speaking African countries in chief, those who are governing. It also partly explains the reason why France has lost its credibility in most of her former colonies in Africa. Mrs. Danielle Palazzo Gauthier has her own chambers located at the prestigious Champ Elysee.  And according to an online Gabonese newspaper known as Dworaczek-Bendome, Mrs. Danielle Palazzo Gauthier also spelled as Danyele Palazzo Gauthier was born on the 27^th of January 1952. She is a graduate of the Universite des Sciences Sociale de Toulouse and the Institute d’Etude Judiciaire de Toulouse and she is also honorary Consul of Gabon in Bordeaux.  Mrs. Danielle Palazzo Gauthier who runs a controversial Gabonese or should I say, Bongo Ondimba funded company called Delta Synegie , headquartered in Luxemburg, which is  the parent company of most of their investments in Europe, is also the vice chair of the Albertine Amissa Bongo Ondimba Foundation.  Albertine Amissa Bongo Ondimba was one of the daughters of late President Omar Bongo Ondimba. She was born in 1964 and died in 1993. It is in her memory, a foundation was created and also an annual cycling race code named: Tour du Gabon Amissa Bongo Ondimba. 

Mrs. Danielle Palazzo Gauthier is a specialist in Urban, Construction, trade, succession and international laws. It is also reported that, she went or attended the Paris-Dauphine University along with Pascaline Bongo Ondimba. It is also reported that, it was while they were students that, they knew and befriended each other. And it was Mrs. Danielle Palazzo Gauthier who brought in a group of whites, namely: Charles Villeneuve and Bernard Volker to run 3 A Telesud. It was a clear takeover and also a fundamental change from how Jean Philippe Kabore and Louis Magloire Keumayou were running 3 A Telesud. Bernard Volker is a former or retired journalist with the privately owned French TV called TF1. Mr Volker is also known to have presented the news in 1968 in full military fatigue. May 1968 was a volatile period in France and it was punctuated by demonstrations and massive general strikes as well as occupation of universities and factories across France. And according to the online dictionary Wikipedia, at the height of the civil unrest, there was fear of a revolution, in particular when General Charles De Gaulle, for a moment left Paris. It was during this period that, Bernard Volker was ordered to present the news in full military gears. What is not known is whether he was forced to or whether it was simply that, he was a Gaullist zealot.  It is something or a period that, the truth will never been known because I think Bernard Volker will not like to talk about.

Bernard Volker is also known to have worked in both the United States and in Germany as correspondent for TF1. He is fluent in both English and German. But the coming of Bernard Volker at the head of a television station that was made up in majority of Africans from north and sub Saharan Africa and the Caribbean was not well received by the staff. It staff said that, the inferiority complex of the Gabonese have forced them to hand over the management of the first pan African television station to French whites whose only interest  was to make money. In fact the coming of Bernard Volker at the helms of 3 A Telesud that became known only as Telesud, also marked the end of its ambitions and originality. Bernard Volker made a lot of promises. He promised to transform or change everything. He promised regular and timely payment of salaries. The payment of salaries regularly and on time was the only piece of good news that came along with the takeover of Telesud by white men. For before they came, staff stayed for between two-three months without pay.