Showing posts with label Leon Juste Imbombo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leon Juste Imbombo. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

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. 

Monday, May 2, 2016

Aimé Hydevert Mouagni MP: Profile a a firsthand survivalist

Aimé Hydevert Mouagni MP: he is the chair of a political party called Club Perspectives et Réalités, in French or in English, Reality and Perspective Club, abbreviated CPR. Aimé Hydevert Mouagni would have been the perfect example of what makes true multiparty democracy the best form of human governance, given the caliber of people that it sometimes produces to lead. But sadly, he is everything, but a product of democracy. He is instead the product of a rotten and an amoral system instituted by Denis Sassou Nguesso. The crime, which is also the sins of Denis Sassou Nguesso and this according to Jean Marie Tassoua, is that, he has forsaken along the way, all those who supported him and made him to become what he is today. Denis Sassou Nguesso has forsaken his true friends and supporters for his family and new friends, whose only ambition is to enrich themselves. Jean Marie Tassoua goes on: all those who left Pascal Lissouba to follow Denis Sassou Nguesso, may not have been angels, but they nonetheless had an ideal and also a goal to achieve. Their goal was a different Congo, which they hoped under Sassou Nguesso, would be free from corruption, tribalism, political violence and all the ills of Pascal Lissouba. But the new friends and family members of Denis Sassou Nguesso have no plans or ideals, which can make people to forget Pascal Lissouba’s government. Instead things are worse under Denis Sassou Nguesso. He concluded.  As for Aime Hydevert Mouagni, he may have fought as a militia for Denis Sassou Nguesso and only believes Denis Sassou Nguesso, but that is not enough. His conduct is at variance with those of any group of people who have a balance and rational view of Congo and the world. Hence Aimé Hydervert Mouagni deserves no praise, because he is not a product or hard work or democracy, but of a system that is corrupt and is breeding a combustible mix of tribalo-Christian-neo nationalism.

It is a system that celebrates deviant sexual life, corruption, immorality of all sorts and the non respect of national and international law. It is also a system that believes in the use of brutal force. Its visible and noble proponents are Leon Juste Imbombo, Arlette Soudan Nonault and Alain Akouala. They hide themselves under dubious claims of revival of national and African traditions to distil a venomous ideology that is alien to the African values that they claim to extol. For African values is not synonymous to duplicity, violence and immorality, as practiced by the Sassou Nguesso’s regime. The grand ideologue of this counterfeit Congolese and African nationalism is Theophile Obenga, a specialist of ancient Egyptian history. Aimé Hydevert Mouagni is a product of the dubious system that would turn against it founders one day. He is an assertive and violent person. It is also clear whenever you sit to converse with Aimé Hydevert Mouagni, that, he is a controversial Member of Parliament for Moungali, a neighbourhood that straddles the south and north of Brazzaville. Aimé Hydevert Mouagni is every inch a rogue and also an erratic person. He is sickeningly incoherent in the way he speaks, especially to journalists and to some politicians.  In spite all the above description of a perfect a character or product of the tribalo-Christian-neo nationalism, honesty requires me to state here on albeit with pain that, Aimé Hydevert Mouagni is not an all round stupid man as some may claim. Some of his detractors have gone the extra mile to call him a marionette. But he is everything but a marionette. He knows what he wants and certainly has a goal or objective.   

To reach those, he can count on his ruse. He has the cunning attitude of an animal or of a man who has spent time on the street or in prison. His supporters as well as his detractors, who ignore him, are doing that, at their own risk. How can he be a fool  when he has a formidable network of informants that, he has introduce within most militia groups, political parties, civil society organisations and even in the press? This network feeds him back with information. However, he is mindful of his many handicaps among which is, intellectual. However, where Aimé Hydevert Mouagni outsmarts everyone is that, like a true street boy and a firsthand survivalist, he masters not only the Congolese society but also the ruling elite, in particular the Nguessos, which he claims to be a member of their large family. The Nguessos have an elastic family that keeps expanding as the time of their father and uncle is prolonged at the summit of the country. And sometimes, it is hard to distinguish the genuine Nguessos from the fake. He knows that, he lives in a society and in a world that judges’ people mostly on appearances, in particular, the depth of his/her pocket. 

Hence, whenever he wants to impress his audience, especially the Nguessos, pressmen and women and other intellectually and economically challenged persons, seeking his grants, he uses words and phrases that, he invents or coins, instantly. He could even create his own dictionary for all his created new words. Again, Aimé Hydervert Mouagni is not a fool, as some of his detractors’ claims. Another example is that, he entertains a formidable mystery on his ancestry and regional attachments in a country that is much divided along tribal lines. He is a northerner, when he is with northerners and a southerner, when he is with southerners.  Sometimes, he claims to have studied in an unknown French University, but his is academically adrift level, is quickly always exposes him. And to shield it he becomes verbose. I think he does that, because, he knows that, his Nguesso milieu is a place, where only money matters and education is not valued, but anyone who is well educated and speaks French like a French man from Paris, is respected.

That is the paradox that Denis Sassou Nguesso, who has destroyed Congo, by instituting immorality as a way of life, has done. We may hate or love Aimé Hydervert Mouagni, because he is the product of the current regime, but as I have written above, he is not stupid. the fact that he has been able to succeed in convincing the likes of Hughes Ngouelondele, who is the Lord Mayor of the Brazzaville Greater City Council and Denis-Christel Sassou Nguesso, who is the son of the president of the republic to support him financially in his political ambition to point of making him a member of parliament, shows that, he is an intelligent man and not a fool as claimed by some of his supporters and detractors. His 2012 legislative elections campaign against Clement Mierassa was finance by Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso to the tune of FCFA 300 million, funds gotten from state coffers. Hence, he had the upper hand against Clement Mierassa.  But It is also not entirely clear whether he won or got his way to parliament simply because he had deep pockets. However, Clement Mierassa claims that, Aimé Hydervert Mouagni   won through vote rigging. It is an accusation that Aimé Hydervert Mouagni rejects with a wave of his hand. 

He says that, he defeated Clement Mierassa hands down. He might be correct, because Clement Mierassa had no money. Clement Mierassa could hardly print two or three banners or buy advertorial spaces on Radio, TV or even in newspapers. To be honest, politics today is not only done with idealism, it is accompanied with money. Officially, Aimé Hydervert Mouagni is an independent candidate and leading an independent party, but the reality is that, he is a satellite of the ruling PCT party. For as the saying goes: he who pays the piper dictates the tune and his funding for his campaign came from the son of the President and the son in law to the president. How can he be an independent? Aimé Hydevert Mouagny is a member of the foreign affairs commission at the national assembly. But I don’t know what he speaks or says there, for a man who has little international culture of his own and who also repeats like a parrot, all what he listens on foreign media made by some specialists of international relations. While he always behaves like someone who is permanently drunk and drugged, he sometimes have some moments of sanity at which times, he expresses coherent thoughts.


These rare moments are the periods when he expresses doubts with the way the country is being governed by the President. He even once told me that, he is against the change of the constitution, especially if it was done to favour the stranglehold of the children of the president and his family on power. He also added: the president has allowed himself to be ill advised by people whose only interest is to line their pockets. This simply means that, Aimé Hydevert Mouagni might one day, turn against them, if they cease to give him what he wants. In other words, he is a ticking time bomb or monster, who might one day turn against the regime, his creator. While waiting for his true self to be revealed and this at the detriment of the system and those supporting him, credit would have been given to the lone Member of Parliament of his party, had he been that, he won his seat honestly or if he were humble and treated elderly persons with respect. Or play a primordial role in parliament in defense of the electoral constituency that he represents. Unfortunately, he is bigheaded. Once, I wanted to have him debate with Clement Mierassa, his rival during the 2012 legislative elections. Mindful that, he could not debate with Clement Mierassa, he decided to pay a lady FCFA 1 million, in order for her to break into the studio during the live programme and to claim that, Clement Mierassa had raped her. That shows where he truly comes from, the street and thus, he believes and behaves in gang-star politics or politics of blackmail.



Fortunately for me I got hold of his sinister plans before and I decided to drop the idea of any debate, between him and Clement Mierassa. The only thing that, I think he is correct in, whenever he boast  is that, he is what he is today because of  hard work and ingenuity.  In fact, he is an MP for Moungali. Aimé Hydevert Mouagni will certainly not have any positive role to play in the present political scene. He might instead become a nuisance to peace, for he could easily return to what he was: a cobra militiaman.  He was a cobra militiaman during the 1997 civil war. He is also being accused of having taken part in advance fee fraud or 419, while in France and because of that, he is reported to have spent some time in French jails. It is an allegation that I don’t know whether it is true or false and I have also never wanted to verify, even though I am aware that, it is not a good thing professionally to ignore such vital details. 

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

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

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


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

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


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


Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Dedication:Working as a journalist in Congo




This book is dedicated to all those who sincerely supported me while I was in Congo. There are certainly many, but on this page, I would like to mention these ones: Alain Akouala Atipault, Alphonse Ndongo, Alida Bienvenu Coddy,Augustine Kallakalla ,Alexandre Pierre Bougha, Bienvenu Okiemi, Clement Mierassa, Donald Ekouela Obami, Rynelle Kourissa,Raudand Pascal Eyangui, Mathias Dzon, Maurice Nguesso,  Mampassi Ngoma Rech,Olga Chinelle Moutonga Tchitembo, Olga Blanche Pethas, Lydie Hortense Kourissa, Joe Washington Ebina Jean De Dieu Kourissa, Jeannout Ondongo, Jean de Paris Bantsimba Leho, Guy Blaise Seydoux, Richy Mfouna Nde, Gustelle Klaire Nkoudissa, Tony Akoli, Kelly Joyce Mbimi,Leon Juste Imbombo, Sadio Kante-Morel,Sam Nick Owosso, Florent N. Koumba, Florent Blaise Nkounkou, Thierry Moungalla ,Michelle Walass, Cyr Ebina and Raymond Zephirin Mboulou.