Congo Brazzaville: Mafia world of the Nguessos

The Nguesso ruling family as already mentioned is present in all sectors of the Congolese economy and not all are big winners. However the system operates like a mafia world, wherein the mafia boss who the President seldom gives written instructions. All recommendations or instructions are given verbally or orally.

Beneficiaries of Kleptocracy

And as a keen observer, I have come to the conclusion that,  the main beneficiaries of the Kleptocratic system in place in Brazzaville are those whose names are mentioned as  main support of the regime: Denis Sassou Nguesso, Antoinette Sassou Nguesso (wife of the president), Maurice Nguesso, Claudia Sassou Nguesso and Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso, others are: Ninelle Sassou Nguesso, Julienne Johnson nee Julienne Nguesso, Cendrine Otenello Sassou Nguesso, Jean Dominique Okemba, Wilfried Nguesso, Edgard Nguesso and Jean Jacques Bouya. However the latter mentioned names are not an exhaustive list.

Overwhelming presence

For example, if a businessman or a contractor that has executed a government awarded contract and as usual, he/she finds it difficult to be paid in any government ministries, he /she doesn’t have to bother. All the businessman/woman or contractor needs to do is to find one of the many children of the President or children of his elder brother, Maurice Nguesso, the specialist, being Rodrigue Nguesso. Once one of the children of the ruling family is found, he/she will take the contractor who has not been paid to the ministry concern. There, just the mention of the name Nguesso and in addition: son or nephew or niece to the president, it will work out miracles. The contractor, along with a member of the ruling family will go straight to see the minister and his/ her unsettled bills will be paid. And when that is done; the son/nephew or niece of the president who facilitated the payment will be given a percentage that is almost always agreed in advance. 

Wamba Sassou Nguesso

While almost all the sons/nephews and nieces of the President are involved in such deals, the one who has taken such services as his job is Arnaud Wamba Sassou Nguesso, one of the most violent sons of Sassou Nguesso. He is married Ikobo Sassou Nguesso, nee Ibata. Besides spending time in night clubs or seizing the wives or girlfriends of Congolese men or brutalizing them, Wamba has no clearly defined profession. Although he has spent sometimes in the United States, it is not clear whether it was for studies and even if it were for studies, it is not clear or known which course  he studied and in which University. Another thing that he is known of while he was in the United States is that, he owns a bank account at the Bank of America, wherein he is reported to have regularly received money wired from the Congolese treasury in Brazzaville. One of his friends told me that, the highest amount he is reported to have been wired from the Congolese treasury in Brazzaville is the sum of FCFA 500 million. 

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. 

Leon Juste Imbombo: profile of a Born again Christian at the service of an evil regime

Leon Juste Imbombo: he is a trendy political figure who is young, zealous and also an energetic supporter of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. He is a first and foremost, a born again Christian, who likes to claim that, he is doing politics differently. He also claims that, he is fighting for Jesus Christ. While most politicians say things that, they don’t believe in it, Leon Juste Imbombo is different. We might not like what he believes in, but it is his right to choose the path that, he has chosen. He is a diehard supporter of President Denis Sassou Nguesso to a point that, he has developed an ideology known as “Sassouism,” which is aimed at promoting the thoughts of the President of Congo.  But what really are the ideologies of President Denis Sassou Nguesso? It is a question that, Leon Juste Imbombo, struggles to answer other than claiming that, it is amongst other things to consolidate peace and stability in the country. As a good practicing Christian, Leon Juste Imbombo is married to a journalist by name Carine Oyoma. He also respects strict Christian norms and attains service every Sunday with his family, where he sometimes preaches. While Leon Juste claims to be a Christian, he is contradictory, in the way he does things. For true Christians support the truth, whereas he is supporting an illegal and also a constitutional lie, which wants the president to bend the rules in order to enable President Sassou Nguesso to stand for a third of which, he is constitutionally barred.  

Were he an honest Christian, like Apostle Paul, he would have at the risk of his life spoken the truth to the president and his supporters, which, his plans to change the constitution is legally and also wrong theocratic-wise. Leon Juste Imbombo, who has three children, now heads a platform of 500 political associations and groups of NGOs code named: M2NR. This umbrella association is sponsored by Edgard Sassou Nguesso, the nephew of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. The objective of this umbrella organization is to promote a new political, socio-economic and cultural order in Congo. A new order, that Leon Juste claims, will be guided by biblical norms. He has a kind of messianic view in a country whose ruling elite have conducts that are akin to those of elite in biblical Sodom and Gomorrah. But most importantly, what is hidden behind the theocratic  propaganda of Leon Juste Imbombo is the perpetuation of Denis Sassou Nguesso in power  through the change of the January 20^th, 2002 constitution, that bars his champion from standing for a third presidential mandate. Leon Juste Imbombo may be a diehard supporter of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, but his attitude of trying to change the rule of the democratic game during full playing time, is also the very reason why Congo and most of the continent are not respected. His behavior is sadly shared by most African elite, especially those within the central African sub region. They put first their interest and those of their family, before the collective interest of the nation.

Leon Juste Imbombo is a graduate of the Ecole des Haute Etude en Science Sociale of Paris and currently, he is the head of the Communications department at the National Commission for the Fight against Corruption. A government body that has never prosecuted any government official for the purpose for which it was created. He is nevertheless, a person who will certainly play a role in Congo in case President Denis Sassou Nguesso succeeds in changing the constitution and this, for a long time even if Denis Sassou Nguesso is gone, for he is a trendy political figure who blends politics with evangelical Christian teachings of moral rectitude. I have noticed two things with him. He is sincere in his support of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, for he believes that, president Denis Sassou Nguesso is the only one fit to rule and save Congo. Secondly, traumatized by his experience in France, he doesn’t want to go back. Hence he thinks and believes that, Denis Sassou Nguesso is the only person who can avoid or prevent him from going back into exile.  However, it is a paradox for a man who is a Christian, to be putting his hopes in an earthly man, who is not eternal and who is also subject to influences and changes.

Henri Ossebi MP: profile of a professional liar

Henri Ossebi MP, he is the minister of Hydraulics and Energy and also a former university lecturer at the Marien Ngouabi University, located in Brazzaville. It is claimed by people close to him that, his post within the government was achieved thanks to the lobbying of Edgard Nguesso. Mr Edgard Nguesso is the nephew of President Denis Sassou Nguesso and also the Director of Presidential Domains. Besides his official functions, Edgard Nguesso is the honorary chair of a foundation called: Generation Avenir, in which Henri Ossebi has worked in their think tank section called Agir pour le Congo. This think tank metamorphosed into a political party under whose banner he was elected as MP for Abala.  Abala is an electoral constituency, located in the Plateau region of Congo. And because Henri Ossebi is today what he is politically, he is considered by his detractors as the poodle of Edgard Nguesso. This claim has some substance because,  contrary to others who became ministers through chaperoning, Henri Ossebi has proven with disbelieve that, he can’t express himself honestly, in particular in the presence of Edgard Nguesso. He is therefore, one of the most dishonest intellectuals working for the government of Congo that I have met beside Professor Placide Modoudou. Mr Moudoudou is also a university don and an assistant to Jean Jacques Bouya at the ministry of Major Public Works, known in French as ministere des Grand Travaux.

As for Professor Placide Moudoudou, he is a proponent of what he calls “Bantu democracy” and also a member of the committee who wrote their “Bantu constitution”, which has permitted Denis Sassou Nguesso through fraud to abrogate the January 20^th 2002 constitution. Professor Placide Moudoudou is also known within the academic world, in particular in France and in others parts of the French-speaking world, where academia is taken seriously, to be professional in plagiarism.  In a blog in titled: Archeologie du Copier-Coller, Jean-Darde (MCF, Universite Paris 8) wrote an article, accusing Professor Placide Modoudou of plagiarism. The lead of the article that was published online on the 30^th of November 2015 is:  Professor Moudoudou: a strange constitutionalist or in French: Le doyen Moudoudou: Un drole de constitutionalist[i].  As for Henri Ossebi, he lies as he breathes or he is at the image of typical Congolese elite.

He is triple or a trinity, if one wants to use Roman Catholic parlance. That is: what he says, is not what he thinks and evidently, he acts differently.  And if he were a Muslim, he would make a good Shia Muslim.  For Henri Ossebi is brilliant at dissimulation or what is best at what is known as “takiya” in the Shia Islamic world. People like Henri Ossebi, who can’t express themselves and who also don’t have the courage to say what they think in public and even in private, for fear of losing their privileges are cowards of the worse orders, who are not only dangerous to themselves, but also to those they pretend to serve and above all to the country. Henri Ossebi is a polygamist who is also not appreciated within his family and also amongst the population of the neighborhood of Massengo, north of Brazzaville where he lives.  All around him people are not connected to the national power grid or connected to pipe borne water. But in his villa which is well gated, he has water and constant power supply. It is claimed by members of his family that, he is very selfish. Because he owes all what has today politically thanks to Edgard Nguesso, he has become blind to his supporters at but a fanatical supporter of the system, to a point that, he is ready to kill, just to maintain his privilege.

He is also a dictator and does like independent journalism and he seldom likes criticism. Furthermore, he doesn’t have any bit of professional espirit de corp with his colleagues. He is envious of most of his colleagues and especially his ministerial colleagues. The one he hates most is called Jean Bruno Richard Itoua. Mr Jean Bruno Richard Itoua, was the predecessor of Henri Ossebi at the ministry of Hydraulics and Energy, in fact they interchanged ministries. For Henri Ossebi was formerly head of the ministry of Scientific Research, which is currently headed by Jean Bruno Richard Itoua, but  It is not known why Henri Ossebi hates Jean Bruno Richard Itoua so much. He gets mad whenever any of his collaborators mentions the name of Jean Bruno Richard Itoua, so I was told by one staff. But I suspect that, his successor has revived the moribund ministry of scientific research to a point that, Henri Ossebi is acting the like the biblical story between King Saul and David.  When Henri Ossebi was at ministry of Scientific Research, the ministry did not even have a website and there were no budgets for research and now at the ministry of Hydraulics and energy is has done nothing new. If Congo were a serious country, Henri Ossebi won’t have any responsibility in that country’s government.  But since he is the protégé of Edgard Nguesso, he can be lazy and incompetent, he fears no sanctions.  

The Power situation in the country is worst under him than under Jean Bruno Richard Itoua, because he has no plans. Furthermore he has instituted monumental disorder with the state power and water utilities abbreviated SNDE and SNE. All he cares is create the enabling environment to line his pocket and those of his children. Politically, he has no future in Congo without Edgard Nguesso. His only other hope is that, since he spends time looking for witch doctors, who claim to have the power to maintain President Sassou Nguesso in power and who also claims to have the power to prolong live and keep the president in power for eternity, perhaps, the president who loves magical practices and other fetishes, will fall into his tricks and leave him in his post or appointment him elsewhere. Henri Ossebi is a catastrophe and they are amongst those who are contributing to make Denis Sassou Nguesso unpopular. What is certain is that, he will play little or no role in Congo in case the charms of the witch Doctors that he relies on fail to keep the president in power. His place will be at the University, if he still has the academic freshness and also the humility to go back where he rightfully belongs.

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[i] http://archeologie-copier-coller.com/?p=13007

Alain Akouala Atipault aka “the manager”: Reporting for another duty for Denis Sassou Nguesso

Alain Akouala Atipault: until his recent appointed as Congo’s ambassador designate to France, a post that, he never assumed, because of reasons not worth explaining hereon, he was minister delegate at the Presidency of the Republic, in charge of Special Economic Zones. He is one of the rare government minister of President Denis Sassou Nguesso who can walk anywhere in the country without a body guard. He is a man of the people and indeed a very simple free minded man. While he is fluent in both English and French, he prefers to speak only the Lingala language. Lingala is one of the two widely spoken national languages in Congo and western DRC. He is also one of the ministers of Denis Sassou Nguesso’s government that, I have spoken with who has a clear cut ideological orientation. He is a Communist pan Africanist. His main national political idol or role model is: Marien Ngouabi, on whom, he can spend an entire year speaking with passion about and also in excessive praise. To Alain Akouala, Marien Ngouabi is the all time best President of Congo. On Marien Ngouabi, Alain Akouala is not the only Congolese who is full of praise of a leader who died in controversial circumstances in 1977. Marien Ngouabi is held in a kind mythology in Congo and he was also a pan Africanist whose actions are not known because those he brought to power in 1968, did not only help to kill him but they have done everything to destroy or undermine his legacy.  

Marien Ngouabi was amongst those Thomas Isidore Sankara considered as heroes and role models in his own actions and policies in Burkina Faso. Like Marien Ngouabi, Thomas Sankara was killed by his brothers in arms. Commandant Marien Ngouabi is to Congolese what John Fritz Kennedy is to the Americans, an idol that can still win elections, even in his grave against any presidential candidate in Congo. Marien Ngouabi was an example of probity absent today in Congo’s political elite.  The other idols of Alain Akouala are: Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea, Patrice Emery Lumumba of the DRC, Antonio Agostinho Neto of Angola, Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral of Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde, Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein of Egypt and Samora Moisés Machel of Mozambique. He also loves Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz of Cuba and Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela of South Africa. But he thinks that, the South African and global icon is a sellout, for having in his expression, conceded too much to the white minorities. Another thing he spends time speaking in glorious terms about is the battle of Cuito Cuannavale in Angola. A battle fought between 1987 and 1988 and it was the most important battle and turning point in the liberation combed ideological proxy war pitting the imperial powers of the United States against the USA on African soil. On one hand were the South African Defense Force supported by UNITA of Dr Jonas Savimbi while on the other hand were the Cuban forces supported by the MPLA, Soviet Union, ANC and SWAPO.

The commander of the first was Colonel Deon Ferreira, while the commander of the second was General Leopoldo Cintras Frias aka Polo. In the mind of Alain Akouala, the Berlin wall has not fallen and he also thinks that Africa, especially French-speaking Africa is in a second a ferocious decolonization process against the imperialists.The fact that he is still a minister in Denis Sassou Nguesso’s government to point of being given the strategic post of ambassador of Congo to France is a unique testimony of his resilience and independent fighting spirit, for he doesn’t have the support of the children of the President as it is the case with most government ministers in Congo. Alain Akouala is an independent minded person who believes in the values of true democracy, the respect of free speech and protection and defense of human rights. He also respects the rights of all minorities’ even homosexuals, something most of his colleagues can’t stand. He also doesn’t belong to any of the orders or cult groups that most influential men and women Congo and Africa likes to be attached to or be members of. Therefore, he is not a member of any fraternities such as Bilderberg, Freemason, Armoc or any tribal orders or fraternity. 

Even though born in a Christian Roman catholic family, he seldom goes to church. Most often than not, combated by some members of the ruling family who have influence on some government ministers as already mentioned, he has survived because he is a fighter  who has rendered himself indispensable in the defense of the regime and in particular, President Denis Sassou Nguesso. He is exceptionally proactive in the defense of President Denis Sassou Nguesso than most government ministers, to a point that, he has been nicknamed: “the cobra of Denis Sassou Nguesso”. Edgard Nguesso, the nephew of President Denis Sassou Nguesso and Director of Presidential Domains calls him “the manager”, whatever that means is left to the author to explain, while Issidore Mvouba, MP and minister in Denis Sassou Nguesso’s government calls him the cobra of Denis Sassou Nguesso.

Mr. Mvouba, MP is even the author of the phrase: Cobra of Denis Sassou Nguesso. This because he was impressive in the way Alain Akouala defended the president and his family at the height of accusations in France by NGOs who were accusation the President and his family of having amassed illicit wealth.. While Mvouba,MP might be happy and supports Alain Akouala in his defense of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, not everyone seems to be impressed with the militant defense of the president carried out by Alain Akouala. One of such is Bruno Jean Richard Itoa, MP and current minister of Scientific Research of Congo. He thinks that Alain Akouala is too zealous in defense of the President and doing very little in the function to which he has been appointed. As for Mathias Dzon, former finance minister of Denis Sassou Nguesso and currently his main rival in the opposition, he says: “Alain Akouala will use and dumped very soon by Denis Sassou Nguesso”. 

He also says: “he doesn’t understand the reason why such as brilliant and hard working person such Alain Akouala is investing too much energy in a system and a man of the past in the caliber of Denis Sassou”. But Alain Akouala, who is in his mid 50s and married, doesn’t care. He is a loyal servant of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, because he is the successor of his idol, Marien Ngouabi. He also adds that: “people must learn in Congo and Africa to be loyal and assume the consequences and not be unnecessarily opportunistic”. He is a force to be counter upon within the current system and even if, the system changes and the new  one has the spirit of inclusion and stability, Alain Akouala will still have a greater responsibility and role to play in Congo and in the next two or three decades ahead. Alain Akouala likes African political history, Congolese Rumba music and Biking with his children during the weekends without guards. He is really a man of the people from Gamboma, the most populated city in the north of Congo.

Rear Admiral Jean Dominique Okemba: heir apparent of Denis Sassou Nguesso

For had the rival of Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso in the 2012 legislative elections, not been forced to quit, Denis Christel and the ruling PCT would have registered their greatest upset in that year’s legislative elections. Furthermore, even when his rival was forced out of the race, heavy fraud, corruption, coupled with the personal involvement of his uncle Maurice Nguesso was needed to convince the 27 villages that make up the Oyo district to vote in favor of Denis-Christel Sassou Nguesso, the son of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. For the son of the President who was the lone candidate in the Oyo electoral district and flag bearer of the Congolese Workers Party of PCT  encountered  stiff hostility from the natives of Oyo. The natives of Oyo referred to Denis-Christel Sassou Nguesso as “Kiki le Zairois” a euphemism to claim that Denis-Christel Sassou Nguesso is not a Congolese or not an ethnic Mbouchi enough. It therefore required the dexterity of his uncle Maurice Nguesso to convince the natives of the district of Oyo that, Denis-Christel was one of theirs.

As already mentioned, even though Denis -Christel Sassou Nguesso was alone in the 2012 legislative elections, the elections organizing body still had to cheat and allocated to the heir apparent of President Denis Sassou Nguesso a soviet style electoral score of 100%. Christel Denis Sassou Nguesso might be groomed to succeed his father, the same way that, Omar Bongo Ondimba prepared his son Ali Bongo Ondimba to succeed him as Gabon’s president. Anyway that is what people likes Michel Ngakala do desire and are working or laying the ground works. The reality is that, Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso can’t rule Congo not because he doesn’t have the capacity, but more because all those supporting Denis Sassou Nguesso might be divided, but they are united on one thing: that, no son or daughter of Denis Sassou Nguesso should be accepted as President of Congo. Nevertheless, there are also many others within the ruling Nguesso family who are also planning to succeed their father or uncle. Amongst them, two are visible and well prepared.

They are Jean Dominique Okemba and Jean Jacques Bouya. And between both men, who stands the most or has the greatest chance of succeeding? It is Jean Dominique Okemba. Why? It is simply because Jean Dominique Okemba is straightforward and crafty. He has money and commands a solid network of loyalists within the security apparatus of the state: Army, Navy, Air force, Police and Customs. He also has connections within the civil society and political parties of the opposition as well as in the majority. The icing on the cake is that within the government, he has ministers who are there because of him. Furthermore, the fact that, he is not highly educated makes others within and without the family, who have the tendency or presidential ambitions, to look down on him or tend to ignore him and this, to their very own detriment and also their ambitions. The list of Jean Dominique Okemba’s victims is impressive and the most prized of his contemporary victims is Colonel Marcel Nstourou. And within the family, his victims in the internal power struggle are Colonel Hillaire Mokou and Maurice Nguesso and also General Pierre Oba. Jean Dominique Okemba is the most influential member of the ruling family. However, there are others as well.They are:  Aime Emmanuel Yoka, Maurice Nguesso, Denis-Christel Sassou Nguesso, Wilfried Nguesso, Edgard Nguesso, Claudia Sassou Nguesso, Cendrine Sassou Nguesso, Ninelle Sassou Nguesso and Lydie Hortense Kourissa. 

Jean Marie Tassoua: Denis Sassou Nguesso has allowed himself to be taken hostage by negative elements of his family.

She is also meek and extremely religious. While the second, that is Edgard Nguesso, he is perhaps barred from showing what he truly is or the military laws prevents him to show a side of him seldom known of the Nguessos. Edgard Nguesso is humble and honest. He (Edgard Nguesso) also likes intelligent people. He also enjoys contradictory debates and admires professional journalists and responsible strong civil society organizations and its members. And paradoxically, Edgard Nguesso also likes pro-democracy activists and strong opposition activities. Edgard Nguesso is a generous person and also humane. But I doubt whether he is religious. However, one thing is clear, Edgard Nguesso is supportive of young Congolese and he seems very patriotic. He is also conscious that the current political class especially those of the ruling party, has contributed in ruining the country and have held his father or his uncle hostage.

However, Edgard Nguesso can’t express his feelings or opinion openly, because he is a soldier and also for fear that, he might be at best be a victim of calumny and blackmail or at worst, be poisoned, as it is the norm used to eliminate opponents within the clan. For above and beyond the façade of unity portrayed by the ruling Nguesso family, beneath hides a bitter intra family feud. In short, Lydie Hortense Kourissa and Edgard Nguesso are not the show and tell types or sections of the sprawling ruling Nguesso family. The showy or haughty attitude of most of the ruling Nguesso family is exactly what makes them to be abhorred by Congolese. The paradox is that, their living fathers or ancestors that are Maurice Nguesso and Denis Sassou Nguesso are a people who are humble, affable and kind. Although it must be pointed out clearly that, while Denis Sassou Nguesso may be charming and affable at first sight, he has an insatiable love for power. And his love for power is also what makes him very dangerous because he acts both like a serpent and feline, whenever he thinks his power is on the line or threatened.  Besides Lydie Hortense Kourissa, Edgard Nguesso, Rodrigue Nguesso, Marina Nguesso, Annie Rachael Nguesso, and Jennifer Nguesso, the bulk of the Nguesso children are really a pain on the back of several Congolese.

However, the most admired of the Nguessos is the patriarch Maurice Nguesso. Maurice Nguesso is loved by most Congolese because, he is open-minded and he is not tribal, regionalist or is not haughty. However, intra family feud, calumny and his advancing age is preventing Maurice Nguesso from playing the grand positive role, which he would have played on the side of his younger brother. But that role is now being played either by his nephew Jean Dominique Okemba or by his niece, Claudia Sassou Nguesso, albeit not always in a positive or in the manner that, the humble and bright old Maurice Nguesso would have done. President Denis Sassou Nguesso is like any other human being. He is not an evil man. But his lust for power makes him a dangerous man, but not an evil man. However, what I have noticed and he has written in his books is that, he loves Congo and  he also thinks that, as long as he is alive, he must be at the head of the country.  And regarding President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Jean Marie Tassoua once told me that: Denis Sassou Nguesso is a good man. But he quickly added: President Denis Sassou Nguesso has allowed himself to be taken hostage by negative or vile elements of his close knit family.

And Jean Marie Tassoua concluded: this attitude might be the cause of President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s political and even physical demise, as it happened with Marien Ngouabi in 1977.  Jean Marie Tassoua aka General Diap is the head of the Economic and Social Council of Congo. He was one of the leaders of President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s Cobra militia that fought and drove away from power, Pascal Lissouba, the first post independent democratically elected president of Congo. As for Pascal Lissouba he was driven away from power by Denis Sassou Nguesso in 1997. Jean Marie Tassoua also told me that, Denis Sassou Nguesso might be rancorous, but he seldom kills. To prove or convinced me that, Denis Sassou Nguesso is not an assassin as it is being propagated, Jean Marie Tassoua gave me a 1997 civil war anecdote.  

Jean Marie Tassoua told me that, during the final onslaught on President Pascal Lissouba, president called and told him along with Richard Mondjo, the current minister delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defense that: I don’t want to see the head of Pascal Lissouba brought back here on a stick. Jean Marie Tassoua went on: the president told us clearly that: All I (Denis Sassou  Nguesso)want is that, Pascal Lissouba should be driven, but his life and those of his family and those left around him should be spared. Jean Marie Tassoua is a close collaborator of Denis Sassou Nguesso and his house located in the north of Brazzaville was the headquarters of the Cobra militia and also hideout for President Denis Sassou Nguesso. I am therefore not surprised that he is full of praise of his leader. However, one thing is clear, everyone who has spent time with President Denis Sassou Nguesso including me, is impressed by the simplicity of Congo’s leader, but there is very little or no kind words for most his family, especially some of his children. The only exceptions being those earlier mentioned. Even Professor Claude Maylin, friend and private medical doctor to President Denis Sassou Nguesso told me this on the 3^rd of January 2014: the family of the president has made him to commit a lot of mistakes that could cause him his power and also his reputation.  

Professor Claude Maylin: They have forced or convinced President Denis Sassou Nguesso to construct a 6 hundred bed modern hospital in Oyo, his home town at the expense of upgrading and maintaining the Brazzaville University Teaching Hospital abbreviated in French as CHU.  And Professor Claude Maylin added:  some members of the Nguesso ruling family are even forcing Denis Sassou Nguesso to move the capital from Brazzaville to Oyo because of the alleged hostility of people of the capital toward them and more in a bid to keep power forever. Then Mrs. Benedict Bourgneuf, the former wife of Pierre Haim, a French businessman and friend of the President Denis Sassou Nguesso also told me that, her former husband gave President Denis Sassou Nguesso this advice: please keep your children and cumbersome elements of your family away from you and power. Allocate to them a monthly salary and you will rule or govern well and most importantly, you will be remembered by Congolese and Africans as great leader.  According to Mrs. Benedict Bourgneuf, Pierre Haim her former husband also told President Denis Sassou Nguesso this: Don’t also let or forget the friends and other people who helped you to come back to power.

And Benedict concluded: il n’ecoute pas or he (President Denis Sassou Nguesso) doesn’t listen.  Some members of the Sassou Nguesso family want to force or convince their father and uncle to move the capital from Brazzaville to Oyo, because they claim, that, the former is hostile to them. What they do not know is that, even in the latter town of Oyo, they (Sassou Nguesso family) are not loved either. And if the 2012 legislative elections are a benchmark or any guide, then the more extreme elements of the ruling Nguesso family will have to rethink their pet project of relocating Congo’s capital from Brazzaville to Oyo. 

Cendrine Sassou Nguesso: profile of the aggressive and corrosive offspring of President Denis Sassou Nguesso

Was he sincere? Or was he doing or talking the way he was talking because I was there? I can never tell. But, I left with a mixed feeling. However, what I was certain was that, the scheme was already in place for Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso to succeed his father. That is certainly going to be another arduous battle, for most close associates of Denis Sassou Nguesso have always told me that, Congo will never be second Gabon, Togo or the DRC. The other character of a Presidential Nguesso, child that I have come across was a certain Cendrine Sassou Nguesso, formerly known as Mrs. Otenello, the name of her former Italian husband. We first met in Marbella, Spain in 2009 during a vacation with President Denis Sassou Nguesso. It was my first and last accidental vacation with the Congolese president. As always, I get carried away whenever I come across any French-speaking African who expresses him or herself fluently in English and to Cendrine Sassou Nguesso credit, she spoke and still speaks perfect.

The only other member of the ruling Nguesso family whom I know and who expresses or speaks fluent English is Claudia Lemboumba Sassou Nguesso. She is the Communications adviser to the President of the Republic. But I came to discover that, behind Cendrine Sassou Nguesso’s clam and effaced demeanor, hides a very aggressive and corrosive offspring of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. She has a rapacious desire for wealth amassing. And her focus is in the area of service and real-estate. She also seems to be competing or wants to compete with other members of President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s many children, to seek for the attention of their father. Cendrine Sassou Nguesso obsession is to be like Claudia Sassou Nguesso, her half sister. While other children of Denis Sassou Nguesso are essentially politically oriented, Cendrine Sassou Nguesso seems to have inherited the business genes of her uncle Maurice Nguesso. She is the owner of a hotel in Pointe Noire called Twinga and she also owns one of the best restaurants in Brazzaville called Terminalia. This restaurant is built on part of the Greater Brazzaville city council property, which she has seized or taken with the complicity of her brother-in-law, Mr Ngouelondele.

Cendrine Sassou Nguesso is perhaps the only child of a president his many children whose area of predilection is not only politics and the creation of foundations. She has as already mentioned flair in business or the private sector.  Her success is not because of her ingenuity, but more because of the name that she bears. And between Denis Sassou Nguesso and his elder brother, Maurice Nguesso, they have 48 children and still procreating with countless number of grand children. But one strong and also strange thing is that, the only child of President Denis Sassou Nguesso and also the most intelligent was Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba. She was also the only one loved or tolerated by Congolese. The rest are abhorred by the people. But I also think that, the Congolese would have also loved two other Nguessos if and only if, they knew them better: they are Lydie Hortense Kourissa and Edgard Nguesso. These two are very effaced and humble, although it must be stressed that, the second is not well known because he holds official functions in the army. The first, that is Mrs. Hortense Lydie Kourissa nee Nguesso, doesn’t even like to be called or identified by the name: Nguesso. She is very proud to carry her husband’s name. 

She is also meek and extremely religious. While the second, that  is Edgard Nguesso, he is perhaps barred from showing what he truly is or the military laws prevents him to show a side of him seldom known of the Nguessos. Edgard Nguesso is humble and honest. He (Edgard Nguesso) also likes intelligent people. He also enjoys contradictory debates and admires professional journalists and responsible strong civil society organizations and its members. And paradoxically, Edgard Nguesso also likes pro-democracy activists and strong opposition activities. Edgard Nguesso is a generous person and also humane. But I doubt whether he is religious. However, one thing is clear, Edgard Nguesso is supportive of young Congolese and he seems very patriotic. He is also conscious that the current political class especially those of the ruling party, has contributed in ruining the country and have held his father or his uncle hostage. 

Profiles of Edgard Nguesso,Willy Nguesso and Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso

Within that large diverse ruling Nguesso family, there are many who supported press freedom and were very supportive of what I had initiated at MNTV/MN Radio. The ruling Nguesso family is not a homogenous set up. It must be pointed out clearly.   The children of Maurice Nguesso who are also nieces and nephews of the President and his other nieces and nephews are different.  There are also the children of Denis Sassou Nguesso or the legal ones as opposed to those born out of wedlock and who were massively recognized through the pressure of late Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba and Maurice Nguesso. Some in the first are well mannered, but the worst are the newly recognized Nguessos. They are the ones, who have ruined the little good reputation that (he) President Denis Sassou Nguesso could have garnered amongst Congolese. The newly minted Nguessos are those that are into show and tell attitudes and other scandals such as harassments and rape reported in Congo.  

As I had already mentioned, there is the special case of Mrs. Lydie Hortense Kourissa, who is the eldest of the Nguesso children. It is also true that, she was reticent at first at how and what her father wanted MNTV/Radio to become editorial wise and this was so because of the pressure that, she received from her husband, Mr Jean De Dieu Kourissa. But, at the end after she understood that, what I was doing was not at the detriment of the regime but instead propping it, she became my bulwark against the barrage of attacks, which she received on my behalf from her family. Even her husband, Mr Jean de Dieu Kourissa, also became my great supporter and also defending I whenever need be. He also started giving me information on what went wrong within the ruling party. He was not doing so because he hated his party, but he wanted his party to carry out reforms and adapt to the changing realities in the society. Jean de Dieu Kourissa and Arlette Soudan Nonault are amongst the few members of the ruling party and ruling family that understood that, they were out of touch with the reality, hence the urgent need for reforms. 

Edgard Nguesso

And within the ruling family, there was another good man. His name is Edgard Nguesso.He is calm, open minded and tolerant. He likes honest intellectuals, bold politicians and professional journalists. But the fact that, he is an active soldier prevents him from exercising or showing his true potentials to the Congolese public. 

Willy Nguesso

I have also met with Willy Nguesso and Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso. The first, we had met twice. The first time was in Ewo, a town located in the north of Congo or to be precise, in the north western part of Congo. We met at around 11pm at the initiative of Juste Mondele. I was stroked by his simplicity and honesty. He told me or we spoke about many things that night with Willy Nguesso. I was surprised at his mastery of international politics and current affairs. But what I could retain in the long conversation that ended at about 1 am in the morning, were the following: I am what I am today, not because I am very intelligent, but more because of the position that my father have in this country as president of the Republic and I think, we need to be humble enough. Then he also told me that: the ruling Congolese Workers Party or t PCT has killed two Congolese presidents. Namely: Marien Ngouabi and Alphonse Massamba-Debat. And he concluded: Pierre Ngolo and Michel Ngakala are extremely wicked and opportunistic people who spend their time smearing their comrades to the President of the Republic. I (Willy Nguesso) myself, I am a victim of the communist calumny orchestrated by both Pierre Ngolo and Michel Ngakala. Fortunately for me, Sassou Nguesso is my father. I can imagine how others in this country are suffering or are victims of conspiracies hatch out by people such as Pierre Ngolo and Michel Ngakala. Besides calling or referring to Pierre Ngolo and Michel Ngakala as incompetent, opportunistic and slanderers, Willy Nguesso did not have kind words for his cousin Mrs. Arlette Soudan-Nonault. He described her as a talkative, bellicose and a radical who misleads his father or in the western terminology, his uncle, who is President Denis Sassou Nguesso. I was very happy without encounter. For I left with the impression that, Willy Nguesso was not only a simple man but, more so a honest man.

Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso

I was also happy because, I saw another Nguesso, besides Maurice Nguesso and Lydie Hortense Kourissa and Rodrigue Nguesso, who hated communism and was a liberal. I have met with Christel Sassou Nguesso three times. Once on board a flight from Brazzaville to Paris and the second time was in the restaurant of Four Season Hotel in Washington DC and the third time was in the village of Boukuoelle. Boukuoelle is a small village or a neighborhood in the Village of Edou.  And Edou is some 4km from the town of Oyo, which is also the name of the district. I discovered that, Christel Sassou Nguesso was every inch different from his cousin Willy Nguesso. He was somehow distant with a tinge of arrogance. I don’t know whether it was because of the reputation that I had already forged in the sub-conscience of some members of the ruling family, but I discovered that, he was distant and having lining of pride. He was almost already destroyed by people who were around him and already calling him President of the Republic. One of such was the former minister of Communications and current minister of Culture, Mr. Bienvenu Okiemi.

Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso looks calm with no apparent trace of a man who can command or have the ambition to command.  But he is being groomed by the likes of Michel Ngakala and even his father to start thinking of ruling Congo. Our meeting in Boukuoelle, Edou was in 2012. It was at the heat of legislative elections.  I came to interview him and this time around he was accessible. It is strange how during campaign arrogant and distant politicians become accessible. Christel Sassou Nguesso was consisting for the Oyo electoral district, of which he was the lone candidate. Although he was alone, he needed the intervention of his uncle Maurice Nguesso in order to be elected.  For in Oyo district, the population doesn’t like the Nguessos and they detest Christel Sassou Nguesso, because they think he is not wholly Congolese. In Oyo district, he called: KIKI LE Zairois.  Why because his mother is from neighboring DRC and in the Republic of Congo, DRC natives or nationals are held in utter contempt. However I was taken aback by some declarations of Christel Sassou Nguesso off record. He was openly criticizing the fact that, his father was tolerating corruption and also allowing his friends to do whatever they please.Was he sincere? Or was he doing or talking the way he was speaking because I was there? I can never tell. But, I left with a mixed feeling. However, what I was certain was that, the scheme was already in place for him to succeed his father.

Ninelle Sassou Nguesso’s vendetta over MNCOM

She is claimed by some Congolese to have won the unenviable crown of the ugliest of the daughters of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. Personally, I do not share that opinion because, whatever her weaknesses, she remains the creature of God. She is pretty. If she was not, the mayor of Brazzaville won’t have been dying for her. And more, beauty is not only about external appearances. Congolese, who are a people who are very conscious of their physical appearance, also claim that, ugly women are also those who are the most wicked. Once again here, I do not share their opinion. As far as I am concern, all women are beautiful. As for Mr Jean-Bruno Obambi, he is the CEO of Azur Telecom, a local mobile phone company present in three African countries: Congo, Central African Republic and Gabon.

In Congo, other mobile telephone companies operating in the country are complaining that Azur Telecom that Jean- Bruno Obambi is the managing Director, doesn’t pay interconnection fees, they (Azur Telecom) are crumbling under a bag load of debts. Azur Telecom is not also a paragon of management like anything attached to the ruling family. Sometimes workers go for months without being paid and that is the hallmark of all or any company owned by the Nguessos. Although Azur Telecom doesn’t pay her interconnection fees, which penalizes other mobile operators, nothing can be done to her because they have the name tag of the Nguesso and as such, derive influenced from the presidency. Congo under Denis Sassou Nguesso is the land of selective impunity, especially for his family and also those gravitating around the ruling family. As far as I was concern and this in regard to how I was doing my job, some members of the ruling family could not understand the reason why, a family journalist, as they termed me, could decide to do his (my) job professionally. They wanted me to act as a propagandist to the family and the regime. I once told Edgard Nguesso that, I will willingly promote any member of the family or any action of the regime, if it is honest and for the greater good.

My only crime in the eyes of the Ninelle Sassou Nguesso fringe of the family was that, I allowed Congolese to express themselves freely. When her wing of the family and even their father of a president, were annoyed with me, I concluded that, they were stupid and never knew how to strategize. I also sensed that, contrary to what I thought, they were vulnerable. Hence, they use force, violence, intimidation and financial corruption to buy loyalty and support. My professional or working style would have been an opportunity for them to know what Congolese were really thinking about them and also how the country was being managed. The Congo that I knew and this from feed backs of the real people was far away from the lies that, some ministers and supporters of the regimes regularly churned out to them. What I also concluded was that, the Ninelle Sassou Nguesso fringe of the ruling family, which was the majority, never liked the truth. They prefer those who lied to them than those who were honest with them. And that will be how easy they will lose power one day, for they won’t know or see when the end of their chaotic reigns begins. The first person in the ruling family who was baying for my blood was Ninelle Sassou Nguesso, one of the many daughters of the president and wife of the Lord Mayor of the Greater Brazzaville  City Council.

One day, after insulting her cousin who is Mrs. Lydie Hortense Kourissa, she added to terminate her barrage of insults on Mrs. KOURISSA that, I was against her husband (Hugues Ngouelondele). Why? Simply because, Alexandre Pierre BOUGHA, the programme Director, had introduced a Radio phone- in- programme on MN Radio called “Overture sûr l’info”. This programme was presented by a talented journalist called Regis ASSOULA. It was a simple programme. Listeners had to call to denounce what they did not like or what was not going on well in the city and also in the country. Since the city of Brazzaville was dirty, and it was Hugues Ngouelondele, the Lord Mayor and husband to Ninelle, she (Ninelle) never wanted that the programme should continue. She wanted the programme to be suspended.

Eventually, I decided to suspend the programme after I sensed that, Ninelle Sassou Nguesso, one of the daughters of President Denis Sassou Nguesso and the wife of Hugues Ngouelondele, the Lord Mayor of Greater Brazzaville City Council, had made the phone- in- programme on MN Radio called: “Overture sûr l’info”, one of the main subject of their regular family meetings. Ninelle Sassou Nguesso claimed during one of their meeting that, it was Jean De Dieu KOURISSA, the husband of Mrs. KOURISSA, who has ordered me to start a smear campaign against her husband (Hugues Ngouelondele). The origin of the intra ruling Nguesso family feud pitting on one side Lydie Hortense Kourissa, the eldest daughter of Maurice Nguesso and on the other side, Ninelle Sassou Nguesso, the daughter of Denis Sassou Nguesso began in 2007 legislative and Council elections. It was Jean De Dieu KOURISSA, that, the ruling PCT councilors in Brazzaville voted and wanted him (Jean De Dieu KOURISSA) to become Lord Mayor of the Greater Brazzaville city Council. But Isidore MVOUBA, former Prime Minister, and currently Minister of Commerce, told me that, Ninelle Sassou Nguesso was vehemently opposed.