The Nguessos: the Kleptocratic Family

While specialists are still debating on how and when a regime could be defined or referred to as a Kleptocracy, the Cambridge dictionary defines the noun Kleptomania, this way: “A very strong and uncontrollable wish to steal, especially without any need or purpose”. The same dictionary adds: “It is usually considered to be a mental illness”. With the preceding definitions in mind and having spent time in Congo, I am sometimes tempted to conclude that, those ruling the country are sick. My conclusion is based on the insatiable desire of the ruling Nguesso family and their supporters in spite the fact that, they have become extremely prosperous to pilfer the wealth of the country. The Nguesso’s determination to continuously embezzle the country’s wealth is exacerbated by the fact that, everyone within that family wants to grow rich. Even the men and women who have integrated the family through marriage want to become wealthy. And this has sparked an internal race and competition for wealth acquisition that fuels the state theft and capture by a single family, which has resulted in a worrying trend that is beyond comprehension. If the Nguesso’s propensity to steal is not driven by mental illness, it is therefore beyond comprehension why after ruining the country, they are still enthusiastically plundering her.

Immediate consequences

And the immediate consequences of the above is that, today, the Republic of Congo is either bankrupt or on the verge of bankruptcy. According to CEMAC sources, she is indebted to the tune of 77% of her GDP. And this is 7% way above the authorized indebtedness ratio within the norms of the Economic and Monetary Commission of Central African States, CEMAC. The long stay of Sassou Nguesso in power as mentioned severally in the preceding chapters has not only bred corruption and dysfunctions of proper governance; it has also made the system to become a Kleptocracy. A system that has deeply altered   the way the Congolese society behaves or their regard on exams cheating, a practice which is prevalent within the educational system.

Why has Kleptocracy Developed?

Kleptocracy has developed and become a culture because of the following reasons: the children and close relatives of the Sassou Nguesso who were young and some even unborn when he came to power 1979 have now become matured men and women. And most of them currently want to have or already hold political positions and therefore they need money to consolidate their power, the other reasons are that, President Sassou Nguesso has a strong love and affection for his children and family members to a point that, he is unable to take decisions or punish erring members. President Nguesso has a string of friends without whom he won’t have seized power and to compensate them, he allows them free hands to plunder state coffers as they please. In short, Sassou Nguesso has become too passive toward his children, family members and friends, to a level which could be compared to the attitude of the biblical Eli.  But in the bible, there was a consequence. Prophet Eli was punished by God for his inability to reprove his wayward children, and in Congo, it might take some time, ultimately, Congolese will punish Sassou Nguesso for presiding over their economic ruin. 

Congo Brazzaville: Cheating starts at primary and secondary levels courtesy Social Media

This is perhaps the only a country in Africa, wherein when final year exams for primary and secondary  schools are ready:  head teachers from primary and secondary schools do openly offer bribes to  the  national exams board, in order to have questions in advance. They resort to such open cheating in order to a give a false illusion that their schools have excellent teachers and also that, their students are brilliant. Furthermore, in Congo besides exam leaks organized at Impremerie Ayessa, a printing press owned by Maurice Nguesso, during exams, smart phones are used to give answers to pupils and students. This is how it works: pupils and students in exam writing classes are all required to pay FCFA 50,000 each. This sum is collected by the teachers, handed over to school heads who intend hands it to head of exams at the ministries of basic and secondary educations. The latter provides answers for each subject in advance to school heads through social media platforms: Whatsapp and Facebook. And the school heads passes correct answers to students and pupils on the day of the exams. As for those who are not IT savvy, what happens is that, on the day of the exams parents contribute money come to various examination centres, pays or bribes the examiners and the police of Gendarmerie officer present, who looks the other way while parents bring in people who seat in and write for their children.  

Consequences

The standard of education in Congo has woefully dropped because of state sanctioned corruption. And as direct consequences Congolese can hardly compete with their peers within the sub region because of all the reasons earlier mentioned. When they go abroad to attend university, they hardly succeed. Their rate of success at the entrance exams for sub regional organizations such the Bank of Central African States, BEAC, has been abysmally low. Instead to seek solutions as to why their students and candidates are unable to compete with their peers within the sub region, the Congolese government mounted pressure with the support of another failure, Equatorial Guinea that, regional exams for admission into various sub regional institutions must be abandon for national independent exams. This way their candidates won’t be evaluated through regional standards, but through their corrupt national standards which encourages fraud. As a result most Congolese who get into sub regional institutions are not fit to be there. There are not fit because the national admittance system for regional organizations is fraudulently organized.

The fraud is deliberately organized and encouraged by those in power in Brazzaville because they want their relatives be admitted by all means into regional institutions of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States, CEMAC. This way they will be able to control everything nationally and regionally.  Having written the above doesn’t mean that, there are no bright pupils and students within the educational system in Congo. There certainly are, but these ones, most often don’t have the opportunities to excel, because they are mostly from disadvantaged backgrounds or from the greater south of the country. This part of the country even though they are the most hard working and also where are located the best minds of the country, they have less or no influence within the political system in the country. As already mentioned, the greater south of Congo lost political power courtesy the coup d’état of Marien Ngouabi. That coup d’état presented as reorientation of the existing Marxism ideology, was in fact, a way of the northerners to correct what they perceived as a historic wrong. 

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.