Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes: profile of a Congolese Liberal

Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes: he is an economist by profession and a graduate of the Paris Dauphine University. He is also a former staff of Ernst and young. Mr Fylla is every inch a modern day politician in a country whose political practices is everything but modern. It is a country of paradox. It doesn’t have free press, but its government sponsors international media outlets such as the newly inaugurated Africanews, which is a subsidiary of Euronews. Political opponents are either killed, arrested and tortured as is currently the case with all those who were against the change of the constitution or who ran against Denis Sassou Nguesso in a an election, that he lost but stole the victory of the people. That might explain the reason why Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes, affectionately known as “Nick”, doesn’t succeed and is also not understood by the people. No one knows for sure where he stands. Is he supported by Denis Sassou Nguesso or does he support the popular calls for Denis Sassou Nguesso to step-down? The only aspect where Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes is very clear on is his political orientation or ideology, which is also that of his party. He is a liberal.  He is besides Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas of the MCDDI and Hellot Matson Mampouya of the DRD, the only other political party leader whose political party’s orientation is liberal in Congo. Perhaps others do exist, but Guy Brice, Hellot Matson and Fylla de Saint Eudes are the only threesome that I have met and who clearly assumes without fear or shame that, they are liberals.

The name of his political party is:  Partie Democratique et Liberale Congolais or Congolese Liberal and Democratic Party, abbreviated in French as PDLC. Although he is very popular throughout the city of Brazzaville and beyond, his political base is located in the cosmopolitan and populous neighborhood of Poto-poto.  Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes showed that he was very popular and could also scuttle any government plans if he wanted to, in 2007. That year, he frustrated President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s plans to impose Jean De Dieu Kourissa as MP for the Poto-poto electoral constituency. Jean De Dieu Kourissa is the son-in-law of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. In spite the use of soldiers to vote and massive rigging, Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes, defeated Jean De Dieu Kourissa to win the constituency. But the president of the Republic could not swallow the humiliation. He ordered that all means should be used to overturn the results. Fraudulently, Jean De Dieu Kourissa was elected or designated as MP for Poto-poto. But protest mounted by Mr Fylla caused riots in the locality rendering the constituency and party of the city chaotic zone. The government was forced to negotiate. It took days of intense negotiations between the ruling PCT party, before he (Fylla de Saint Eudes) could concede defeat. What he gave is known but what he was offered before he could concede has never been revealed.

And again, he frustrated plans by the government to impose a new urban scheme in the historic Poto-poto neighbourhood. And because of his protest, the government was forced to abandon its plans, which would have resulted in massive expropriation of people from their properties.  This shows that, if he were to take up an extreme posture toward the regime of Denis Sassou Nguesso, he could pose a major problem to the system. However, why is he sometimes ambiguous politically? Arlette Soudan-Nonault thinks she has the answer. She says, Fylla de Saint Eudes is not ambiguous, but he is a political realist, for he understands that the balance of power is not in his favour but on the side of the President.  Personally, I think, he acts the way he does, because of two things. The first being that, he understands or knows how violent the President is and second, the proximity between his mother and the president of the Republic waters down any fire that wanted or wants to burn in him against the corrupt and violent government of Denis Sassou Nguesso. But he has also told me that, his plan to rule Congo is set for 2023. Strangely, it also coincides with the period floated around by Arlette Soudan Nonault, as the time when Denis Sassou Nguesso is expected to leave power and also the speculated period when, a new political class, that are free from vengeance and rancor would have taken over or replaced the old rancorous and vengeful class. 

Mr Fylla de Saint Eudes’s party is also one of the rare political formations in Congo to be present all over the country. He is mindful of his real strength and also that of the current ruling party and that of its president. Hence, as already stated, he doesn’t want any kind of open or frontal confrontation with Denis Sassou Nguesso. President Nguesso is a man who doesn’t like anybody whom he perceives as challenging his rule. He is a real dictator. Mr Fylla de Saint Eudes, besides being close to Denis Sassou Nguesso, he is also close to t opposition leader, Mathias Dzon. Fylla de Saint Eudes has even tried to play a mediation role between President Denis Sassou Nguesso and his erstwhile friend and protégé, former finance Minister Mathias Dzon. But that attempt at reconciliation failed in spite using their common freemason Mr Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes who is currently a senator and head of the economy and finance commission at the senate, harbor plans to run for presidential elections again in 2023, because at that time, Denis Sassou Nguesso would have certainly been exhausted and would not be able to run.

Mayoral mantle of the city of Brazzaville:The origin of the intra ruling Nguesso family feud

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 their meetings 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. Why? To cut a long story short, The Kourissas were part of the returnee Nguessos from Libreville, where like the rest of the large contingent of the  ruling Nguessos, they flew in Libreville and stayed there when their sister and cousin, Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba was the wife of President Omar Bongo Ondimba.

However, when Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba fell sick and was flown to France for medical treatment, the Nguessos were no longer welcomed in Libreville at the presidential palace known in French as “Palais du bord de Mer.”  The one amongst the ruling Bongo family in Libreville who regarded the Nguessos as an invasion from Congo, was Ali Bongo Ondimba, the son of late Omar Bongo Ondimba and current president. He had a visceral hatred for Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba, the wife of his father. It partly explains the reason why President Denis Sassou Nguesso doesn’t want to see president Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon.  It is because the current Congolese ruling family was no longer welcomed in Gabon, at least within power circles that, they began planning for their home coming. President Denis Sassou Nguesso never wanted Jean De Dieu Kourissa, the husband of his niece (Lydie Hortense Kourissa) to return home and start idling around.  President Denis Sassou Nguesso can be accused of all things negative, but he is a family man. He has strong love for his family and it is also part of the reason why he has failed in the administration of the country. For he always wants to satisfy his family interest first.  

And since their best profession is politics, the uncle in-law of Jean de Dieu Kourissa decided that, Jean De Dieu Kourissa since he was born in Poto-poto, he must be made a member of parliament.  However what the president never knew or expected was the challenge that would be mounted by another native of Poto-poto by name Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes to the Candidacy of Jean De Dieu Kourissa. Between Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes and Jean de Dieu Kourissa both born and bred in Poto-poto, it is the first who is more popular than the second. Furthermore, the other disadvantaged that Jean De Dieu Kourissa has is that, he is married to the niece of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who is not loved in Poto-poto because of two things: he is suspected to have assassinated Marien Ngouabi and also because he wanted to modernize the neighborhood. To the natives of Poto-poto, no matter the good intension of the president, modernization to them was a metaphor for expropriation.

And the man who fought against the expropriation of Poto-poto was Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes. But during the 2007 legislative elections that were fraught with monumental fraud in favour of Jean de Dieu Kourissa, the Nguessos were united to give their brother and son-in-law a job. However, what they, in particular did not know was that, the municipal councilors of Greater Brazzaville, even though belonging to the ruling PCT Party don’t like the Nguessos. Furthermore, Jean De Dieu Kourissa is partly ethnic Mbouchi from his mother and partly ethnic Lari from his father. Although he is more Mbouchi, than Lari, most PCT councilors and MPs from the Greater Brazzaville, being ethnic Laris and Kongos had preferred, that, the post of Lord Mayor of the Greater Brazzaville city council, should go to one of theirs.   It was Jean De Dieu KOURISSA, their choice.  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 the wishes of the PCT councilors as well as those of PCT member of parliaments were not taken into consideration.

Regarding why the wishes of the PCT councilors of Brazzaville was not taken into consideration or ignored, Isidore MVOUBA, former Prime Minister, and currently Minister of Commerce, told me that, Ninelle Sassou Nguesso was the one who was vehemently opposed. In other words, if Jean De Dieu Kourissa is not Mayor of the Greater Brazzaville city council and could only console himself with his position of MP, it is because of one woman: Ninelle Sassou Nguesso. However, while not underestimating the influence of Ninelle Sassou Nguesso within the Sassou Nguesso power galaxy, the true game changer was Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba, the late beloved daughter of President Denis Sassou Nguesso.  According to Isidore MVOUBA,  it was  an alleged intervention from  Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba, the late wife of late Omar Bongo Ondimba on her father (Denis Sassou Nguesso) that forced or tilted the table in the favour of the husband of Ninelle Sassou Nguesso. The President of the Republic convinced by her late elder daughter to appoint his son-in-law as Lord Mayor of the Greater Brazzaville City Council, instructed Isidore MVOUBA, to ask the ruling PCT councilors in the Greater Brazzaville City Council to drop Jean De Dieu KOURISSA for the proposed post of lord mayor in favour of for Hugues Ngouelondele.

Mr Ngouelondele is the son-in-law of the President Denis Sassou Nguesso while Jean de Dieu Kourissa is the son-in-law of Maurice Nguesso.  Jean De Dieu Kourissa could at least console himself that, he was elected in controversial manner as a ruling PCT MP for Poto-poto, a populous neighborhood of Brazzaville at the expense of Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes. The pressure of Ninelle Sassou Nguesso did not only succeed to maneuver and to put her husband as mayor of the Greater Brazzaville city council and  as you will read later on, she succeeded years later on, precisely in 2012, to make her husband to be elected  as member of parliament for the Gamboma 1 legislative constituency. This time around, the second victim of Ninelle Sassou Nguesso after Jean De Dieu Kourissa was Mathias Dzon.

The husband of Ninelle who was an MP for Brazzaville who was at the end of his mandate, but he succeeded an electoral feat some 300km away from his Brazzaville base, at the expense of the very popular and charismatic Mathias Dzon. Mr Dzon is the main rival of President Denis Sassou Nguesso and there was no way Hugues Ngouelondele could have defeated Mr Dzon in his fief of Gamboma. Hugues Ngouelondele was elected in Gamboma 1 not because he was popular but out of the military bullying the people and brutal electoral fraud.  Ninelle Sassou Nguesso is a very influential member of the ruling family. Although she is cantankerous and most often bullies her half brothers and sisters, especially those born out of wedlock and recently recognized, she doesn’t brag or she is not the show and tell kind of the newly minted Nguessos.  At MNCOM or to be précised MNTV/ MN Radio, she also succeeded to put off air another very popular Radio call-in- Programme called “Good Morning Congo”. It was presented by Willy MESAMOU aka Mr Jekyll. Within the ruling Nguesso family, the Ninelle Sassou Nguesso wing was the most hawkish.

They are also the ones who think that, their father, Denis Sassou Nguesso was born to rule Congo everlastingly. This wing doesn’t like freedom of speech nor democracy. They were the ones who considered that, I had a mission to destroy their divine rule with my independent reporting and management of MNTV/MN Radio. They were also the ones who not only began attacking me and MNTV/MN Radio, but were bent at destroy the media group of their uncle. Their attacks was not only directed on MN Radio, they also attacked the print media that was publishing the newspaper called Le Fanion. That was suspended for a long while just to satisfy the whims and caprices of Ninelle Sassou Nguesso, who was the wife of the Lord Mayor of the Brazzaville Greater City Council. But where they used all weapons available in their distructive armory was on Television. It is true that, most of what Maurice Nguesso does as investments don’t seem to succeed simply because his ambition is simply to create or offer jobs to Congolese. And as already mentioned, on several occasions, most coming to work for Maurice Nguesso or in any of his companies think, that, they don’t need to invest much time to work. 

Profile of Mrs. Lydie Hortense Kourissa, pioneer CEO of MNCOM ,Congo's largest privately owned Media Group

Whatever the case, I still have respect for Mrs. Lydie Hortense Kourissa. I also know that, she is a good God fearing Christian woman who is different from the rest of the Nguesso ruling family. The other good, loyal, humane and humble Nguessos that I have come across are her brother, Eugene Nguesso, her late cousin, Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba, her father, Maurice Nguesso, her younger brother Rodrigue Nguesso, her younger sisters Marina and Jenifer Nguesso and her cousin Edgard Nguesso. Nevertheless, there must still be some good Nguessos that, I have not come across, for it will be grossly unfair on my part to generalize or rule that, they are all bad mannered.  This simply means that, there are some good as well as some bad Nguessos, like in any other family.  As for Eugene Nguesso, he might look disorganized, unkempt and has the features of rogue, but he is a nice, humble and gentle humane man. But Eugene Nguesso has not received any sound formal education. There is another night club going Nguesso known as Kondo. He has the attitude of a feline and wily as a hare. He is the chair of a football team called Kondo Sport FC.

One doesn’t know for sure where he stands politically, although he is proud, but he at least has some respect for others. However, the sad thing is that, it is more often than not, those who ruin the reputation of the ruling family that, are always seen or noticed because of their show and tell conducts. Mrs. Lydie Hortense Kourissa has three other things that she admires and loves best. She likes and loves her parents, especially her father, Maurice Nguesso and her uncle, Denis Sassou Nguesso. She also loves her family and children and loves and respects her husband, Mr Jean De Dieu Kourissa MP.  She has a fourth passion. It is aeronautics. She developed that passion while in Gabon when her cousin, late Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba was the first lady and late President Omar Bongo Ondimba introduce her into aeronautics and she had a small firm that specialized in the hiring or as intermediate for people and organizations that wanted to hire aircrafts in Gabon and within the sub region. She even wanted to open an aviation hiring company in Congo, but her project was taken over or usurped by her cousin Jean Jacques Bouya MP. Anyway that was what she told me and she can’t lie.

Jean Jacques Bouya MP is minister at the presidency of the Republic in charge of major public works. But it was in Paris, France that, Mrs. Kourissa decided to rename the Fanion Media Group into MNCOM. MNCOM stood for Maurice Nguesso Communications. She told me that, she was inspired by the American businessman by name Donald Trump, whose name is attached to almost all what he (Donald Trump) does. However, while there is no problem with Donald Trump using his name as label in the USA, it is not the same with Maurice Nguesso. Mrs. Lydie Kourissa told me that, she wanted her father’s name to be attached to the transformation and name change of the Fanion media, which she was preparing to rename as MNCOM. But she quickly discovered that, Nguesso, their family name was not popular in Congo. It is in fact a liability. The name was however popular between 1997 and 2000. The  Nguesso name fell out of grace when her uncle President Denis Sassou Nguesso put aside all what he deplored in his pre-1997 campaign book: Denis Sassou Nguesso, le manguier, le Fleuve et la souris, JC Lattes, 1997. 

Paris-Brazzaville: Francophonie is a disgraceful and shameful organization or hideout of African dictators

As far as I am concerned, I had never dreamt of ever working permanently in Congo or in any other African country, for I was already well established in France and was married with two children. But as I became very frequent on the continent, I began developing interest. However, the countries that I had in mind in case I wanted to resettle in Africa were Nigeria, Sudan or my native country, Cameroon. I also did develop keen interest in working in Ethiopia. My Congolese journey began with Rynelle Kourissa. Or should I say, it was Rynelle Kourissa who influenced by decision when, I made up my decision to go back to Africa and opted for Congo. Rynelle Kourissa is the daughter Mr Jean de Dieu Kourissa. And she is also one of the rare grand children of the  extended Nguesso ruling family who is not only intelligent but more so, independent minded, in a family who mostly think, that ,they were created to govern Congo and nothing else. Mr Jean de Dieu Kourissa, her father is a Member of Parliament in one of the electoral constituencies of Poto-poto.  Poto-poto is a populous neighborhood located north of Brazzaville. It is not only populous; it is also a cosmopolitan commercial hub and also one of the oldest in the city.

Jean de Dieu Kourissa is the son-in-law of Maurice Nguesso and Mr Maurice Nguesso is the elder brother and also the lone surviving brother of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. How come that, I opted to go to Brazzaville and work for the Nguessos or to be precise, Maurice Nguesso? This was how it all began.   As explained a little bit above, it was Rynelle Kourissa-Okounga who is my friend, who sparked it all.  She came one day into our office (3A Telesud) located at 15 rue Cognac Jay. I can’t recall the day or the month. All I can remember is that, it was in 2009. As for Cognac Jay, it is a street situated in the 7^th arrondissemnt of Paris and that, year, Rynelle Kourissa told or informed me that, Maurice Nguesso had a project to launch a television and Radio station in Brazzaville.  The Cognac Jay Street is a kind of Media Street or mythical street in Paris and France. Made so because, the same street and the same building that, 3 ATelesud was occupying two floors used to house prestigious French media houses. The last two most renowned electronic French media outfits she housed were France 5 and TV5. Both are state owned media houses, but the second while owned by the state has shareholders from Belgium, Canada (Quebec) and Switzerland (Suisse Romande).

TV 5 is a purely political and cultural channel created to promote the French language and culture. Hence it is financed by the aforementioned majority or partly French speaking countries through their ministries of foreign affairs and cooperation. The funding or subventions comes under the shield of a political organization called the “Francophonie”. The Francophonie is an organization that regroups countries that are French-speaking in majority or partly French-speaking. It is claimed to be the brainchild of former Senegalese President Leopold Sedar Senghor, president of Tunisia Habib Ben Ali Bourguiba and President Hamani Diori of Niger. The late President of Tunisia Habib Ben Ali Bourguiba was born on the 3^rd of August 1903 and died on the 6^th of April 2000. He was president of Tunisia from 1957 to 1987, while President Hamani Diori of Niger was born on June 6^th 1916 and died on the 23^rd of April 1989 in Rabat, Morocco.

He was president of Niger from 10^th November 1960 to April 19^th 1974.  The abovementioned triumvirates are claimed to those who revived or actualized the French-speaking political body called the Francophonie. It is also claimed that, the late former President of Senegal, Leopold Sedar Senghor was the one credited to have coined the word Francophonie. It is not exactly correct, because according to the online dictionary Wikipedia, Senegal’s president was the second person to coin the word Francophonie in 1962, but before him, way back in 1880, the word Francophonie was first coined by two French brothers who were geographers by name Onesime Reclus and Elisee Reclus. However, Senegal’s president and his two other African colleagues abovementioned could be credited for have revived or worked hard in 1970 for the political Francophonie to exist. Senegal’s first president was born on the 9^th of October 1906 and died on the 20^th of December 2001. He was the first black African to be elected into the prestigious Academie Francaise on the 21^st of June 1983. Leopold Sedar Senghor was president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980. 

The Academie Francaise or the French Academy according to Wikipedia, the online dictionary, was established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu who was the chief minister of King Louis XIII. It was however suppressed during the revolution in 1793 and restored as a division of the Institute de France in 1803 by Napoleon Bonaparte. French Academy is made up of 40 members known as the immortals. Meanwhile the French Institute regroups five French learned Societies amongst which the French Academy is the most prestigious.  Most of its members are former French colonies located in Africa and in Asia. But recently, the Francophonie in a bid to increase its membership has been opening up her doors to countries that were not even France’s or Belgiums former colonies or that don’t speaking French.  One of such is Qatar. No one understands why the oil rich state is a member of the Francophonie if it is not it huge wealth that made the directorate of the Francophonie to lost its bearings.  The Francophonie in her ambitions wants to become like the Commonwealth of former British colonies that the Queen of England is its head even though symbolic.

But it can’t because, the Francophonie is weak in the defense and protection of human rights and real democracies, for most of its members from Africa, are most dictatorship. The Francophonie is a hideout for French-speaking African dictators, for they use their presence and membership into the 54 member states, 23 states with observers status and 3 associates members to shore up their international prestige.  The Francophonie is more vocal in the defense and promotion of the French language and culture globally than defending human right violations and the abuse of democracy that is prevent in most African countries that its members. The Francophonie is a disgraceful and shameful organization. Although I have presented Rynelle Kourissa-Okounga as the daughter of Jean de Dieu Kourissa MP, she is in reality, the niece of Mr Kourissa. But since she lost her mother at a tender age, she was brought up by Jean de Dieu, hence she is considered as her daughter. Furthermore in equatorial Africa, there is no such thing as a niece or a nephew.  The son or daughter of your brother or your sister is simply yours.