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

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

Consequences

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

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

Congo Brazzaville:Women are like cola nuts

Maurice Nguesso, an Mbouchi patriarch, once told me: “women are like cola nuts. You don’t eat them alone, you must share”. It might explain the reason why he has several wives and several children. His younger brother might officially have one wife, but he has several children from different women. This is the depressing behavior that most Congolese across the natural geographic and linguistic divide have copied. While in Brazzaville, I was startled to discover that, a young journalist working for MNTV had also copied the trend and had three wives. And when I tried to find out, I discovered that, he was not the only one. He was just 30 and a native BasCongo who lives in the northern Brazzaville neighbourhood of Ngamakoso. But the Congolese government officials have done more than considering women as mere cola nuts. To most government officials in Brazzaville, Women have become trophies that are exhibited after seizure from a political rival. Northerners, seems to have succeeded in destroying an entire generation from 1968 till date, as claimed by the Congolese diplomat.

Uniquely Congolese

Whatever the above, there is something uniquely Congolese that acts like a magnet. Anyone who has travelled to Congo can’t explain the attraction of a country that has little or nothing to offer besides pleasure and leisure. The country certainly has great potentials but stifled by those currently governing her. However, once you set foot in Congo, you can’t leave or you don’t want to leave. Perhaps it is the way in which their leaders speak, which is a mixture of an educated French man and a Congolese noble, which gives a false vision of the country. The Congolese educated man and politician who is member of the ruling PCT party, speaks in a slow, savvy and subtle refinement, which gives an illusion of seriousness. Perhaps the other magnet or attraction of the country is the unique sensuality and unbridle sexuality of their women. These mixtures and perhaps others can make one not to forget the country easily. 

Why I choose to stay and work in Congo ( part 3)

The security service hired people who opened different or several Facebook, blog, twitter and Whatsapp accounts, which are/were meant to insult or attack all those whose views are/were contrary to those of the government. These groups of people are known in French as les combatant du web or online warriors.  Then, I did not know that, social media were to play a major role in Congo’s presidential elections as it has done, by exposing the fantastic electoral fraud of President Denis Sassou Nguesso in March 20^th 2016 presidential elections. Congo is a gigantic torture house. And at the head of this formidable machine of physical and psychological torture is General Jean Francois Ndenguet. Their plan is to force their victims to quit or commit suicide. It is another face of Africa. Africa is a strange place. It is a place where things that are not accepted elsewhere are either accepted or tolerated.  This is a continent where some or a majority of its leaders would want to hang on to power, even if it meant killing an entire region or even a country, as it is being observed in Burundi and currently  in  the Pool region of Congo. Africa is a continent where some women will support rape, simply because they want to defend and protect their own interest. Fortunately, once in a while, there are some linings of hope, like the elections that took place in Nigeria and Senegal, which saw the peaceful alternation of power from one civilian regime to another. Congo, represents that small but equally  enduring bad Africa, whose negative images and actions, erodes all the democratic advancements, however small, that is taking place on the continent. 

In term of the respect of human rights and democracy in general, the situation is deteriorating rapidly in Congo. People are being arrested in wanton manner, the press is not free, extrajudicial assassinations are rampant, democracy is destroyed and corruption and immorality has been elevated as a way of life by a government that wants to stay in power everlastingly. Hence, all means are used to perpetuate its plans. All those opposed to the government are arrested, killed or forced into exile.  As regards my job and stay at MNCOM, a media group owned by Maurice Nguesso, the elder brother of Denis Sassou Nguesso, I have read a lot things online, regarding the reasons why I stayed or worked in Congo. Most of it came up, when I took a public stand against the change of the constitution after I was expelled from the country. But some do not know that, it was because of my independent views that I was expelled and nothing else. I also want to make another point clear and it is not in any way aimed at absolving General Jean Francois Ndenguet. He is a criminal, but a disciplined one, who acts only when his masters instructs him to.  I want to make it abundantly clear that, what happened to me, won’t have happened, if Jean Francois Ndenguet did not have the support and backing of the President. Some of my online detractors, especially on Facebook, have even gone the extra mile in claiming that, I had a lump sum salary while working for Maurice Nguesso, hence I chose to stay and work in Congo. But, the truth is that, I didn’t stay or work at MNCOM because of money. May I put the fact straight here on. And throughout this book, I will explain why I stayed in Congo and also worked for the Nguessos. And more, I have no regrets and I do not consider them (the ruling Nguesso family) as my enemies. They are instead the ones who are considering me as an enemy, because they can’t stand anyone who is independent minded. They showed that, they considered me as an enemy when they decided to send thugs to attack me and also gang rape my younger sister.

They wanted to humiliate me and  force me into submission. But I bear no grudge. I do consider myself to be their true friend, especially a true friend of the President Sassou Nguesso. This is so because, I had told him the truth. And a true friend is the one who has the courage to tell the truth. I never wanted President Denis Sassou Nguesso that I held in great esteem to have the fate of Paul Biya, Robert Mugabe, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni or Pierre Nkurunziza. I never wanted him to be humiliated. Sadly, he did not listen and today, he is being ridiculed. He has been humiliated and called names. Had Denis Sassou Nguesso left power, he would have been respected at par with other African great statesmen such as Joaquin Chissano of Mozambique, Dr Goodluck E. Jonathan of Nigeria, Pedro Pires of Cape Verde or Abdou Diouf of Senegal.  As far as Maurice Nguesso is concern, he is not different with the majority of the ruling Nguesso family, that is term of the treatment that he/they gives to people working for them. These are two examples: management workers of the media group MNCOM have not been paid for 17 months while the rank and files have not been paid for 8 months. As concern TOP TV, a media house owned by Claudia Sassou Nguesso, the niece of Maurice Nguesso and daughter of President Sassou Nguesso, her workers   have not been paid for 14 months. Hence I can authoritatively write here on that, the ruling Nguessos, have one thing in common: they seldom pay those who are hired to work for them. At MNCOM, almost all managers who have worked for them have left either without being paid or with salary arrears.

The last two managers namely Laurent Delasus and Michel Rene Mboukou Etoney are two great examples. They have left because the terms of their contracts were not respected. Michel Mboukou is even owed the sum of FCFA 20 million, being his salary arrears or unpaid salaries. I was therefore not working because of any financial advantages because they also owe me a lot of unpaid salary arrears and also, they did not even bother to respect the terms of our contact. The last General Manager of an already death structure is called Florent Koumba, from Gabon. He is the one who gave a clear cut accounting procedure for the group and he also wanted it to operate like a real company. Currently he not paid and more, he is subject of regular humiliations. However, in spite the difficulties and the challenges, I did not bother myself because I knew I was in Congo for a mission and for that reason, I even had to sacrifice my own family. Congo for me was a kind of laboratory to learn how to topple or forced any entrenched dictatorial regime to leave or negotiate with prodemocracy activists and using the forceful combination of old and new media with the help of classic forces: opposition and civil society organisations. For  if  it were  for money, that I came to work for MNCOM, I would have left. This is so because, as already stated above, Maurice Nguesso doesn’t pay his workers and this not a fable or figment from my imagination. It is known by all those who have worked for him. Maurice Nguesso is no doubt very creative, imaginative for his age, but he is surrounded by a profiteering ring and worse, he has fathered children who are busy fighting among themselves to inherit his wealth while he is still alive. In other word, they want to fast lane him to the grave, but the strong, generous and cunning old man, is refusing and resisting death. He has survived several heart attacks. If his children had an ounce of positive and prospective brains, they would have focused their energy and intelligence not at fleecing their old father, but on how to grow and consolidate their fathers investments.  Besides MNTV/ MN Radio, both subsidiaries of MNCOM that, I can without any pretense crow here on that, it had succeeded under my management and this because of the help of people such as Alexander Pierre Bougha and Nick Owosso and certainly with others, all other investments of Maurice Nguesso are monumental failures.

But it is not the fault of Maurice Nguesso, he has tried his best but his children are incapable to recue any of his companies from collapse.  Sadly, poor management  seems to be in the family gene. The way his younger brother runs the industry called the Republic of Congo is also a flop. Furthermore, even if his many children wanted to improve things, they are mostly empty headed and because of pride, they don’t have the humility to surround themselves with professionals. In case they have professionals hired to work for them, they grow jealous whenever the hired professional becomes popular. I have worked for  Maurice Nguesso and as already mentioned, I sacrificed my family and was worst, I was even prepared physiologically to die, for I knew that, one day I will be killed. Hence, every Friday night, whenever I finished my live TV interviewing programme: La Grande Interview, I ended or signed off in French with this phrase: “A Vendredi prochaine,s’il plait a Dieu” or in English: until next Friday, God’s willing. It was my signature. Most viewers never understood the pressure that I was undergoing from a people who never wanted me to do my job as any other journalist would normally do. And I was also determine not to allow them to win in what I knew, was an ideological battle, for I knew that, Congolese deserve to be informed and this, objectively. I was personally tired of the propaganda within state media and also in pseudo privately owned media. I thought, I was on a mission, that must be fought and won, by all peaceful strategic means possible. 

Rodolphe Adada: profile of a mathematician turn Congolese politician

He is a mathematician by profession and also one of the rare well mannered politicians of northern Congolese extraction that I have seen or discovered. We have met twice. The reason of our first meeting was because of Rodrigue Nombo. Mr Nombo is the archetype of a Congolese and African elite: corrupt, inhumane and arrogant. He was the director of the Congolese national airline: Nouvelle Air Congo. Rodrigue Nombo did not only refuse to pay his staff for months, he also never insured the aircrafts, staff or passengers of his company. Rodrigue Nombo was also the embodiment of all what is wrong in Congo. He had abandoned his office. To find him and also talk or negotiate anything regarding Nouvelle Air Congo, there were two places locate him: La Mandarine of Mammy Water, both famous restaurants in Brazzaville.  When I broke the news about the chronic mismanagement and outright theft at Nouvelle Air Congo, carried out by Rodrigue Nombo, in Ca Discute Le Matin, a breakfast show on MNTV, which was anchored by Gustelle Klaire Nkoudissa, Mr Nombo went mad. He reported me to Rodolphe Adada, who was at that time, the minister of transport. And Adada, fearful of his post, because Mr Rodrigue Nombo was the protégé of Mrs. Antoinette Sassou Nguesso, wife of President Sassou Nguesso, he intend, reported me to Maurice Nguesso. Mr Maurice Nguesso as you know is the owner of the media group, MNCOM. And MNCOM is the parent company of MNTV, that I was the director.

When Maurice Nguesso summoned me to come to his house and he also added that, when coming, I should bring proves to back up any controversial declarations I may have made on TV, I suspected that, it was about Nouvelle Air Congo. For I have been used to senior government officers and ministers going to complain or report me to my boss. When we met in the home of Maurice Nguesso, I brought proves of my allegations, which included the fictitious insurance policy contracted from a marginal insurance broking company. When Mr Adada, discovered that, I was not wrong, he did not argue for too long. He asked me to come and see him in his office two days later. When I went there, he gave me his business card and also confided to me that, he could not do anything against Rodrigue Nombo, the rogue manager of Nouvelle Air Congo.

Why? It was simply because Antoinette Sassou Nguesso never wanted that, Rodrigue Nombo should be sanctioned. He told me that, Mrs. Sassou Nguesso had told him this: why do you want to take away bread from the mouth of Nombo? Rodolphe Adada was not the only Congolese minister who was grumbling about the intrusion of the ruling Nguesso family into the management of their ministries. The other one who complained to me was Basile Ikouebe. Mr Ikouebe was so fed up to the point that, he tendered in his resignation, which was dissimulated as a sacking. For Sassou Nguesso decided to reshuffle his cabinet, when it became clear that, Basile Ikouebe would make a public declaration.  Basile Ikouebe left the ministry of foreign affairs without stealing a cent, a feat for a Congolese government minister. He was replaced by Jean Claude Gakosso, nationally known to be corrupt, with little or no knowledge on international affairs. There are two things that I retained when we met in the house of Maurice Nguesso about Rodolphe Adada. First, Maurice Nguesso told me in the presence of Adada that, he (Adada) enjoys drinking champagne, which was in my understanding, a metaphor to the cliché of an elitist, which is too often attached to the man, who always dons a bow tie. The second, Maurice said, Rodolphe Adada was the most competent Mbouchi man capable to replace Sassou Nguesso in 2016. As far as Maurice Nguesso was concern, his younger brother, Sassou Nguesso had to respect the January 20^th 2002 constitution of Congo, which set two presidential term limits. 

However good and noble were Maurice Nguesso’s allegations, he wanted political power to remain not only in the north of Congo, but within the hands of ethnic Mbouchi. Before the declarations of Maurice Nguesso aforementioned, I knew that, this ethnic Mbouchi from Bondji, was born on the 28^th of April 1946. Bondji is located some 47 km from Edou-Elanga, the village of President Sassou Nguesso. Another twist noted with Mr Adada is that, it is not certain whether he was born in Bondji or in Gamboma. However what is generally said about him is that, he is a sleek politician. He leaves little or no foot prints. I also knew that, he had held several ministerial functions, first under General Yhombi and then under Sassou Nguesso. He was only shown the door out of ministerial appointment recently. Besides working in Congo, he has worked as the Joint UN-AU representative in Sudan with focus on Darfur. In my humble opinion, Rodolphe Adada is perhaps the most prepared ethnic Mbouchi, with the necessary international connections, intellectual capacity and cultural finesse to rule Congo, if there were any internal power alternation within the ruling PCT party a la chinoise or a la Chama cha mapinduzi.

Unfortunately within the ruling PCT party, there are no alternatives other than Sassou Nguesso. Anyway, that is how Sassou Nguesso has made things to appear. It partly explains the reason why, even though he was among the potential successors of Ambroise Noumazalaye at the post secretary general of the PCT, during its 2011 Extraordinary Congress, Denis Sassou Nguesso dumped Adada just like many others, for Pierre Ngolo, who is a man without personality. Some people claim that, just as he leads a clean and orderly life, so also is his managerial decency at the head of all the ministries that, he has headed. It is claimed by some Congolese that, if he is not corrupt, it is because he is married to a White French woman, who owns one of the most prestigious private schools in the capital, Brazzaville: Ecole Privee Madame Adada. However, not everyone things that Adada is unblemished as far as corruption is concern. The soft spoken consumer of champagne, according to Maurice Nguesso, is not a paragon of financial honesty.

According to his successor at the ministry of foreign affairs, Basile Ikouebe, when Adada was leaving the ministry of foreign affairs, he left with the budget of FCFA 800 million, earmarked by the state to equip the brand new foreign ministry furniture. The ministry of foreign affairs building in Brazzaville is a gift from the Chinese government.  Rodolphe Adada might not fall into the cliché of northern Mbouchi politicians of the ruling party, who are unashamedly corrupt and above all, who entertain several mistresses or are regularly involved in salacious affairs, but he is not as clean as he wants the people to think, Basile Ikouebe confided to me. As far as ordinary Congolese are concern, he might be less corrupt and less interested in extramarital affairs, which are a hallmark of influential Congolese political and business elite, but he is not generous. That is the general complain from the masses about a man who could have been the candidate of the ruling party in 2016, had Sassou Nguesso not decided to stay in power everlastingly.

Colonel Marcel Nstourou: Profile of a disgruntled Army officer

Colonel Marcel Nstourou: he was until his spectacular arrest on the 16^th of December 2013, the deputy secretary general of Congo’s National Security Council. He was also, the self proclaimed military governor of the commercial and port city of Point Noire. This was immediately after the brief but violent 1997 civil war, pitting the democratically elected government of Pascal Lissouba against the former militia of Denis Sassou Nguesso, known as the Cobra. I have met Colonel Marcel Nstourou twice. The first time was in the home of Maurice Nguesso on the 4^th of March 2012 at about 6pm. He came to confess to the elder brother of the President that, he had no part in the explosions, which took place on the same day at the ammunition depot in Mpila, a neighbourhood located northeast of the capital, Brazzaville. And on that day also, while not nominally accusing his boss, Jean Dominique Okemba, he told Maurice Nguesso to advice his younger brother to be vigilant. Colonel Marcel Nstourou also told Maurice Nguesso that, there was a plot being secretly planned that would one day surprise Denis Sassou Nguesso. By whom, I can’t tell, because when he wanted to start giving names, I left because I did want that, in case there was a leak, I should be accused. However, all I know is that, there are three people who know pretty well those who were behind the March 4^th 2012 explosions. They are: Colonel Jean Aive Alakoua, Maurice Nguesso and Amédée Nganga.

The third became acquainted on the matter, when he was hired as the lead lawyer amongst the pool of lawyers hired to defend Colonel Marcel Nstourou after he was framed up arrested. While the second was informed on the above mentioned day after he was visited by Colonel Marcel Nstourou. The second time that I met him was in the company of Guy Milex Mboundzi, Eric Kouamo and Alphonse Ndongo. The first is a journalist and publisher of La Voix du Peuple, a newspaper that is banned from publishing in Congo and the second is the editor in chief of Equinox TV, a Cameroonian privately owned Television station based in Douala and the third is a journalist working with the French language pan African economic oriented magazine: Jeune Afrique Economie and also for the bimonthly newspaper, Terrafrica. This second meeting was in his house located near the Brazzaville military barracks. It is the same home where he was attacked on the 16^th of December 2013. On that day, I discovered that Colonel Marcel Nstourou was a brilliant officer, who masters not only Congolese history and politics, but also those of the world, especially French. The contrary would have surprising from the elite of a country who has great respect for France. However, where I was surprised was that, he was also interested in American and British civilian and military political as well as economic history. But I also saw a man who is excessively self confident and proud. Furthermore, he seems to under estimate most of his colleagues, especially Jean Dominique Okemba and Jean Francois Ndenguet. I also saw an ambitious soldier, ready to take risk and also ready to pay the ultimate sacrifice.

But he was also a deeply disgruntled man who thinks, he was being marginalized by the very President, he had loyally served. He was ready to make Denis Sassou Nguesso pay for his disloyalty and also for his excessive tribal orientation of his regime. Even though Colonel Marcel Nstourou understands that, he is not poplar amongst Congolese, especially those from the south and this, because of the role that he played during the 1997 civil war, he had opted, when I saw him to aton his sins. According to Colonel Marcel Nstourou in his plan to seek atonement from Congolese, he had the support from other high ranking soldiers within the Congolese army.  Speaking with him, I came to the conclusion that, the Congolese national army was a reflection of the country. A keg of gun powder that is ready to explode, because everybody is disappointed after being hoodwinked by Denis Sassou Nguesso. However, the fact that, he resisted or defy his arrest by the combined forces of the Army, Police and Gendarmerie on the 16^th of December 2013, has endeared him in the minds of many Congolese, especially those, who fought and died, as well as those who survived, the great brief, nonetheless close to five hours gun battle complete with tanks, in the heart of the city. The sins of Marcel Nstourou were atoned on the 16^th of December 2013. Colonel Marcel Nstourou is not only vexed against Denis Sassou Nguesso, but against the entire system erected by his former boss. He is like most Congolese, but his difference between him and other disgruntled officers that populate the Congolese national army is that, he is not a coward or a hypocrite. He is every inch a soldier who is ready to express his opinion and face the consequences or be court martial.  Although he has been demoted and removed from the national and now jailed for his alleged role in the March 4^th 2012 explosions at an ammunition depot north of Brazzaville, Marcel Nstourou remains popular. And if history is any guide, he also might become Congo’s own Nelson Mandela or Nigeria’s own Matthew Olusegun Obasanjo. However, if he is not killed in jail, he will certainly have a major role to play in the political scene of Congo.

Jean Itadi: profile of a Peace-maker

Jean Itadi: he was the former minister of Energy under the government of Pascal Lissouba and also a former member of UPADS, the former ruling party. I have once interviewed this admirer of the late former South African president, Nelson Mandela. And I discovered during our interview that, he is a man, he who not only masters his subject, he also has a keen knowledge of the political situation and social engineering of the country. Furthermore, I also noticed during our interview that, he an easy going intelligent man who seems to habour no rancor against the current regime. His only preoccupation is real reconciliation and forgiveness. Both in his opinion are perquisites for long-lasting peace, stability and economic growth, which the country needs, if she wants to succeed in its fights against poverty and youth unemployment. While he wants his friends to forgive those who overthrew them from power in 1997, he also thinks that, the over hyped reconciliation virtue of the current rulers, is in reality cosmetic. In the opinion of Jean Itadi, real peace and real reconciliation can only be achieved when all those who went to exile in 1997, are allowed to return without any preconditions and properties seized from members of the former regime are returned. Unlike other ministers in the overthrown regime, such as Victor Tamba-Tamba or Christophe Moukoueke, Jean Itadi is relatively young.

He was born on the 24^th March 1949 and he still seems to have a political future in Congo, even under President Denis Sassou Nguesso. For president Denis Sassou Nguesso might need his presence and experience in his plan to “renew” the political class, in case he succeeds to change the constitution. But what is still doubtful, is whether by using a member of the former regime whose credibility and popularity is yet to be tested, will be an excellent political calculation for Denis Sassou Nguesso. However since Jean Itadi came back from exile in South Africa, he has been living in a hotel located near the Brazzaville international airport. His stay there is not because he is afraid to stay in town proper or it is his desire to be close to the airport, which might be an easy escape route, in case of attack. He lives at the Hotel de l’aeroport or Airport Hotel, simply because, all his properties were confiscated by the new regime of Denis Sassou in 1997. Some people claim that, he is the owner of the said hotel where he has been residing since he came back from exile. But, I have not had the chance to ask him whether he was the owner or whether, he was just a client. His prolonged stay in a rented hotel suit is not a sign of his opulence, but a stack remindal, reconciliation is not complete some 17 years after the violent overthrow of Pascal Lissouba. His proximity with Maurice Nguesso, the elder brother of Denis Sassou Nguesso has not facilitated the return of his properties seized when they were defeated.

Politically, he is close to Mathias Dzon and Clement Mierassa. But he has not been able to make any major impact within UPADS, the former ruling party, which is now controlled by Pascal Tsaty Mabiala. Perhaps he never wanted to spark another rift within the former ruling party or he was aware that, a fight for its leadership, would be a lost struggle, hence he decided to create a new political formation. His new political party is called Congres Africain Pour le Progres or in English, African Congress for Progress, abbreviated in French as CAP. He is not alone in the new formation. The other major names are Victor Tamba-Tamba and Christophe Moukoueke. In my opinion, the fact that, he has been able to attract two heavy weights of the former regime shows that, he still has some political capital. It is also a sign that, he wants to be independent from any pressure from his former friends. But the question that begs to be asked are these: will his new political party have any impact?

Does he have the financial strength to sponsor a new political party? And finally, while he might still have some ounce of credibility, is his association with controversial figures such as Victor Tamba-Tamba and Christophe Moukoueke not ruin the ambition of his party and also destroy his political capital? Until he or any other specialist of the Congolese political scene can give clear answers to the latter mentioned questions, only then could honest assessments of the full potentials of CAP be made. Associating with Mathias Dzon and Clement Mierassa is good, but it is not enough to give or tell where they stand ideologically. His future will be judged by or according the positions that he will take on controversial issues and how he will perform in any eventual elections, in particular, local and legislative elections. Jean Itadi is married and a father of several children. He is also a graduate of the Universities of Algiers and Marien Ngouabi of Brazzaville. 

Gilbert Ondongo MP: Profile of a finance minister hated by most of his colleagues

Gilbert Ondongo MP: he is the minister of Economy, Finance, Planning and Integration of Congo. He is one of the most influential ministers within the regime of Denis Sassou Nguesso. It is claimed that, along with Jean Jacques Bouya, Aime Emmanuel Yoka and Jean Bruno Richard Itoua, they have created or formed a band of four around the President of the Republic and thus, influencing all decisions that, the president may want to take, especially when it comes to the allocation of budgets to other ministers or ministries.  Theirs seems to be their answer to a similar band of four created around former President Pascal Lissouba and that, it is claimed was to be the architect of the misrule of the only post independent democratically elected President of Congo. Those who constituted the band of four and who are claimed to have misled Pascal Lissouba were: Moukoueke, Tamba-Tamba, Kombo and Mberi. History being something that repeats itself regularly, perhaps the current band of four of President Denis Sassou Nguesso might replicate what the former band of four did to Pascal Lissouba.

Arrogant and pretentious

Whether claims that Gilbert Ondongo and the others above mentioned are ganging up around the President are correct or wrong, those spreading such rumors have forgotten to mention that, there is also Jean Dominique Okemba, Claudia Sassou Nguesso and Firmin Ayessa who have influence around or on the president of the Republic.  This simply means that, around the president are a band of seven and not four. Or perhaps, there is a band within a band around the president of the Republic. The detractors of Gilbert Ondongo claim that, he is arrogant and pretentious, but hard working.  However, in spite the influence of Gilbert Ondongo on the president and also in the city of Brazzaville and also in Pointe Noire, he is not appreciated in his home town of Owando. Owando is the capital of the Cuvette region and it is located in the north of Congo. In 2012, he carried out one, if not the most expensive legislative campaigns, perhaps in the history of Congo, just to become Member of Parliament for Owando under the banner of the ruling Congolese Workers Party abbreviated in French as PCT. His rival in the 2012 legislative elections was Jean-Jacques Yhomby, the son of former President Joachim Yhomby Opango. But in spite investing the lump sum of FCFA 3 billion, Gilbert Ondongo lost the legislative elections in Owando.

Electoral cheat

In order for him to be designated MP for Owando, Gilbert Ondongo needed the muscular intervention of Jean Dominique Okemba and the massive use  of security forces, that were massively deplored in the northern town in order  to transform or overturned electoral results in his favor. The truth is that, Gilbert Ondongo did not win the legislative elections in Owando in 2012. The victory of the people was stolen through the use of brutal force. Mindful that, Gilbert Ondongo lost the legislative elections in Owando, the government wanted to arrest the Jean-Jacques Yhomby in a bid to intimidate him and also forestall any popular revolts as it happened in Gamboma, when the victory of Mathias Dzon was stolen and award to Hugues Ngouelondele, the son in law of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. If Jean-Jacques Yhomby was arrested, ad he had wanted, it would have sparked a tribal warfare in the Cuvette region. But the intervention and mediation of Maurice Nguesso averted a simmering rivalry between the Kouyous who are natives of Owando and the minority but governing Mbouchis. The Mbouchis are the ethnic group of President Sassou Nguesso and they are accused of planting the seed of division in the home town of Owando.

Hated by his colleagues

Besides stealing the electoral victory of Jean-Jacques Yhomby, Gilbert Ondongo is not love in Owando, hence he can’t win anything there and he is also hated by most of his colleagues.

According to most of his colleagues, he doesn’t only refuse to grant them their normal budgetary allocations, he is also very arrogant. Gilbert Ondongo accuses his colleagues of leading expansive and corrupt lives. By contrast, he claims to be upright, however, a string of financial scandals have trailed him recently and which has ruined all his claims of uprightness.  According to a Congolese web site, Congo Liberty an apartment allegedly belonging to him was seized by Portuguese authorities recently, who are investigating Jose Veiga, a controversial Portuguese businessman, who is well connected with the Nguesso ruling family.  

In Congo, Jose Veiga was the General Manager of a Company called Asperbras, who were involved in fanciful projects such as the establishment of a motor assembly plant in Brazzaville along the Maya-maya international airport or the production of milk and cheese in Oyo. And the grand of all, was their plans to construct 12 modern hospitals around the country. The truth is that, in the ruling family, most are jealous of the success of Jean-Jacques Bouya, hence they too want to enter into the construction sector of business.  He also accused to have embezzled most of the funds earmarked for victims of the March 4^th 2012 disaster.  Politically, he has no future in Congo after President Denis Sassou Nguesso. When challenged by some members of government or some members of the ruling family, he  claims that, he deserved what he has or his post in the system because he lost one of his parents during the 1997 civil war. He speaks as though he is the only one who has lost or sacrificed a family member during the 1997 civil war or for Denis Sassou Nguesso. Unlike some of his predecessors, Gilbert Ondongo commands little or no respect amongst ordinary Congolese, hence when he goes out walking or jogging he is accompanied by a large security details. 

Bienvenu Okiemy: the mechanical former defender of an evil system(profile)

Bienvenu Okiemy: he is the youngest member in Denis Sassou Nguesso’s government. Until his recent appointment at the ministry of culture and arts, he was Congo’s minister of Communications and minister in charge of relations with the national assembly and government spokesman. He was born on the 14^th of July 1972 in Brazzaville. Before his entry into the government, he was vice dean at the faculty of law of the Reims University, France. And he is a Barrister at the Paris bar council. He is an intelligent man and an intellectual who has authored two books and written several articles related to law, published in several journals. But he is also an opportunist to many. To his enemies and detractors, he is an opportunist who cherry picks his fights. His detractors also claim that, since he joined the government as minister of Communications, he has reneged on all what he formerly stood, for while he was in France. Bienvenu was for honesty and the rule of law, but now he has joined the camp of the dishonest and lawless, crows some of his detractors. One of such is Patrick Eric Mampouya, who is one of Congo’s famous blogger. He says that, Bienvenu Okiemy was smooth until he decided to join the Sassou Nguessos in the pillage of the country’s wealth and resources. As for Maurice Nguesso, he is of the opinion that, young people such as Bienvenu Okiemy are the only hope for his younger brother.  Bienvenu is a member of government, but he does not fanatically defend a system that has little or nothing worth defending.  He has his style which adapts to the current dispensation. He is very different from his predecessor Alain Akouala, in that, he is reactive and not proactive in the defense of the family and regime.

Perhaps he doesn’t want to suffer the same fate as his predecessor who put his life and reputation on the line to defend Denis Sassou Nguesso and his family, just to be thrown out of the government in the most ridiculous way. Alain Akouala, when he was unceremoniously dropped out of government, it was claimed that, he would go to Paris to become Congo’s ambassador, replacing longing standing Henry Lopez. In was a monumental shameful lie fabricated by people who think that, they are the demi-gods of Congo. In fact, it was just a ruse hatched out by the children of the President to show Alain Akouala the door in a subtle manner, simply because he (Alain Akouala) is bold and independent minded to their taste. And more, he is not subservient to their (children and family of the President) whims and caprices.  Bienvenu Okiemy by contrast, is doing just his job. But it has been interpreted by some members of the ruling Nguesso family and also by some zealous ministers who owe their positions to one of the children of the president that, he is not convincing enough Or doesn’t want or not fit. Bienvenu Okiemy is mechanical when it comes to defending the regime on subjects that he knows the regime and the family are legally wrong.

And it can be discerned, when he is responding to questions of Journalists on Radio France International or Africa 24, that, he is simply forcing things out, because he has to. He is a good man who has decided to join an evil course or system. And it seems to me that, all that he is interested in is to make his fortune and also help his family and friends.  Bienvenu Okiemy is a very generous man with his friends and also loves his family.  Having lived in France for a very long time, he acts and behaves like most French people, who see Africans and African countries as a milking cow that needs to be milked dry. On the subject of constitutional change in Congo, which is a very hot and controversial topic, he says privately that, the government has no legal logic to back up their claims or plans to change the constitution. In clear terms, the government is wrong. That is the intellectual spirit in him which speaks privately and it is honest. But the evil virus of politics and quest for wealth makes him to sing a different song in public. In short, he doesn’t have the courage to express his real thoughts openly, for fear not only to be shown the door out of government, but with the added risk of sudden death. Therefore, I am of the opinion that, his current change of ministerial post is for him, a welcomed relief.  He would be free from the verbal abuses and excesses of Claudia Sassou Nguesso, who really a pain on his back.

He will also no longer have to be spending sleepless nights in search for the appropriate words and terms to defend a system that perpetually shots itself on its legs. And on the controversial “Bien Mal Acqui” judicial saga and the case of the beach massacres code named “les Disparus du Beach,” he doesn’t want to get involved   as his predecessor Alain Akouala was. He once told me that, power in Congo will leave the north for the south, if honest and transparent elections were held and he also told me that, southern Congolese are better and highly educated than northern Congolese. And he concluded that, the real battle between the north and the south regions of Congo was that of intelligence and he was of the opinion that, the south was way ahead of the north. Politically, Bienvenu Okiemy is not a heavy weight. He relies on the supports that he gets from Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso and Aime Emmanuel Yoka, respectively son and uncle of the President of the Republic. In other words, he is a featherweight and not a broad day street political fighter like Alain Akouala. However, he is not one to be neglected, for he has a formidable survivalist instinct. Hence, his real ambition is to become minister of justice, a post currently held by Aime Emmanuel Yoka, one of his two God fathers.

This means also that, behind the smiles and manifestation of naivety, he is not just a political survivalist, he is an ambitious person who might contrary to my claims and observations, outlive Denis Sassou Nguesso period. It might explain the reason why, he did everything in 2012 to be vetted by the ruling PCT party as an MP for Bondji. Had he succeeded, it would have been at the detriment of one of the two local barons. Namely: Denis Ngokana and Rudolph Adada.  It also explains the reason why both local barons of the ruling party look at him with suspicions. His detractors accuses him of being a tribal oriented person and also that, he has mismanaged or used the funds of the ministry of Communications to enrich himself. It is an accusation that he rejects, although it comes from his elder sister, who was once his principal accountant and assistant at the ministry of Communications. I do hope that, the mistakes that, he committed while at the ministry of Communications, won’t be repeated at the ministry of Culture and Arts.  Bienvenu Okiemy’s administration of the national television and Radio stations, it is claimed by most staff of the state owned media was also a disaster and this if proven, is a disappointment for a man of his intellectual height. 

His frequent misunderstandings or dog fights with Jean Obambi, a senior journalist and Director of the state owned Television paralyzed the smooth functioning of a media that would normally be at the disposal of the people and serving the interest of the people. To his discharge, without that fight, state owned media in Congo has never served the people but working for the propaganda and self aggrandizements of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, his government and his family.  Under him, it is reported by workers that, Congolese national television and radio also promoted and favored incompetence at the expense of competence. Furthermore, he did not allow contradictory views on state media. All what were accepted were the ideologies and supporters of the ruling party. To his discharge he was simply respecting the instructions from the Presidency of the Republic. But for all his intelligence and other qualities that he has, I don’t think he has any future in the politics of Congo in a situation, where by Denis Sassou Nguesso and his family are no longer in power.  Bienvenu Okiemy is a brilliant man who is currently an intellectual waste, from the time when he opted to join a system that doesn’t give value to intellectuals but celebrates brutes and incompetence. His real future is the academia and not in the murky crocodile infested political river of Congo Brazzaville.

Congo: My Observations and People I have met

Congo is no doubt a where I blossomed professionally. And I do not regret forever having opted to work in a country with extraordinary kind and welcoming people. I do not also regret that I accepted to work for a system that I thought at one point that, I could contribute to give it a presentable face. I was not the only one with that illusion. An illusion that, change was possible from within. I do not regret that, I once said: Congo under Denis Sassou Nguesso will never become second Zimbabwe, Eritrea or North Korea. I even said that: there was freedom of speech in Congo. It was a mistake on my part and I assume it. It is a mistake that I know will forever hunt me. The other bad thing is that, I was not the only one who was carried away in this illusion. Even Maurice Nguesso, the elder brother of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, the founder of MNCOM Media Group, also made a mistake. Maurice Nguesso is a disappointed man as I am today.  We have all been deceived or we allowed ourselves to be deceived. We both knew that, we were working with Communists, whom we believed have metamorphosed into liberal or electoral democrats who understood the importance of free speech and real democracy.  

We thought we were in Eastern Europe or in the West African states of Benin or Mali. We even thought that we were with people who had some respect for their internal and external image.  We were wrong. Denis Sassou Nguesso and his close aides don’t care about what the world thinks of them. Their world is Congo.  Maurice Nguesso told me on several occasions that: I created my Radio and Television station plus my newspaper to help my younger brother. Even though he has not contributed a cent in the development of my media entity, I have nonetheless created it as my contribution to allow Congolese to express themselves freely. He continued: free expression might help my younger brother to change or improve in the management of the country. Although it is not unique to Congo, I have nevertheless noticed that, its ruling elite is small, proportional to it official population and also that, it ruling elite is distant from the majority poor Congolese. The Congolese elite that I knew mostly rode in 4 wheel air conditioned chauffeur driven cars. They lived in high walled houses, wherein there existed stand-by generators, boreholes and safety water tanks. These elite seldom experienced power failures or lack of running water.

Decaying medical service

When they are sick, they went for treatment in France, Morocco, and South Africa or even sometimes in neighboring countries such as the DRC or Cameroon. In case an elite falls sick and wishes to be medical assisted or treated in Congo, they hardly went to the public hospitals. They only went to private clinics whose medical doctors and sometimes even nurses were foreigners from the DRC or other neighboring countries or from or Cuba and Asia. They never knew the filthy conditions existing at the in Brazzaville at the Brazzaville University Teaching Hospital abbreviated in French as CHU where its emergency wards had the odor of urine mixed with dried blood. And also where there was no running water and power supply was erratic.

The Brazzaville University Teaching Hospital was also were patients paid people to carry them from the ground floor to the upper floors because there was no lift. The Brazzaville University Teaching Hospital was broad killing field where the number of deaths daily was appalling because of poor hygienic conditions and also that most medical staff especially the nurses and midwives were not properly trained. The Brazzaville University Teaching Hospital abbreviated in French as CHU, was the symbol of a decaying medical or health service. It was also the embodiment of all what has failed with the regime of Denis Sassou Nguesso. It was characterized by corruption, incompetence and nepotism. There was no culture of merit at the Brazzaville University Teaching Hospital. It is these grand edifices whose external paints gave a false illusion as Congolese elites do give to people who do not know them that, the very elites who have ruined it seldom visited. 

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. 

Mathias Dzon: Congo is a republic and not a monarchy

When I discovered the sort of hatred that, Sassou Nguesso harbored against his former finance minister, I went back to Mathias Dzon’s home and asked him this simple question:  why, is it that, President Denis Sassou Nguesso can’t stand or hates you so much? Mathias Dzon replied my question with another one that went thus: you go and ask him the reason why he Denis Sassou Nguesso hates me. Mathias Dzon attempted some answers, but in reality he was evasive and at the end, he never told me anything serious. However, when Mathias Dzon explained to me the role that he played on the side of Denis Sassou Nguesso when they were in exile in France and also when they took power from Pascal Lissouba, after the civil war, I could only guess, the fear that inhabited President Denis Sassou Nguesso against Mathias Dzon was the only reason why Denis Sassou Nguesso hated his former minister of finance. Denis Sassou Nguesso was perhaps afraid that, Mathias Dzon could expose him or their secret dealings to the Congolese and the international community. Interestingly or not, Mathias Dzon was never ready or willing to spill the bin.  

President Denis Sassou Nguesso and Mathias Dzon certainly have their differences to a point that, the second did not attain the burial of the daughter (Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba) of the first in Edou. But the person who knows the real reason behind the hatred that Denis Sassou Nguesso has for Mathias Dzon is Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eude. He is very close to both President Denis Sassou Nguesso and Mathias Dzon. Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eude had even tried to mediate between both men, when they fell out openly in 2007. The official reason it is claimed to why Denis Sassou Nguesso fell out with his former finance minister, Mathias Dzon was because Matthias wanted to field in too many independent candidates in the 2007 legislative elections.  And the second reason, this time around floated by some members of the ruling family is that, Mathias Dzon was angry to have been removed from the ministry of finance as minister. Hence he is against the President. However, this second reason doesn’t say why Denis Sassou Nguesso hates Mathias Dzon. 

In my opinion, the problem between both men might be that, Mathias Dzon’s ambition was viewed by Denis Sassou Nguesso who loves power, as a threat to his domination of the Congolese political landscape. Furthermore and this, contrary to what Denis Sassou Nguesso likes to portray, he is in reality, a very regional and tribal oriented man. Denis Sassou Nguesso wants to be regarded in the north as their champion and protector from southern Congolese that he and other northern supremacists, think are a threat to their existence and current political, military and economic powers or privileges. 

And to see the rise of Mathias Dzon, means a direct challenge to Denis Sassou Nguesso’s role as northern guardian and also leader of the entire Congo. But Mr. Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes has another reason why Mathias Dzon fell out with Denis Sassou Nguesso. The culprit according to Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes is Alain Roux the owner of a mineral water bottling Company called Eaux Mayo. Alain Roux is the cause. He is the one who forced Mathias Dzon to become President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s greatest and most formidable rival. And still according to Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes, Alain Roux was the one who has made or pushed Mathias Dzon to become the opposition leader that, he is today.  Alain Roux is a French businessman living in Brazzaville and he is the friend of both President Denis Sassou Nguesso and Mathias Dzon. 

It is alleged that, Alain Roux was amongst the many French whites who not only supported Denis Sassou Nguesso’s violent power grab from democratically elected Pascal Lissouba, in 1997, they also supplied the then rebel militia of Denis Sassou Nguesso known as the Cobra with weapons that were bought from Eastern Europe, North Korea and that passed through Angola and Gabon. How did Alain Roux force Mathias Dzon to enter in the opposition? Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes told me that, Alain Roux once visited Mathias Dzon and Mathias told Alain Roux that, he wanted to field in independent candidates in the upcoming 2007 legislative elections.  Alain Roux smiled and then asked Mathias: knowing how Denis Sassou Nguesso loves power, are you not afraid that, the president will be angry?

Mathias replied: I don’t care and Mathias added: we are all human beings and we need to have ambitions and more, this is a republic and not a monarchy. According to Nicephore Fylla, Mathias Dzon never knew that, Alain Roux even though his friend was more loyal to the President. And Nicephore Antoine Fylla de Saint Eudes added: it true that, Mathias Dzon wanted to field in candidates of his party in the legislative elections of 2007, but Mathias Dzon was not doing so in an attempt to challenge the power of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. But when Alain Roux reported to the President, he made the President to think and believe that, Mathias Dzon had presidential ambitions. That was when President Denis Sassou Nguesso went mad and decided that, the candidacy of Mathias Dzon and all those he fielded for the 2007 legislative elections should be banned. Surprised at the turn of events, members of the decision making body of the ruling Congolese Workers party abbreviated PCT, decided to also invalidate the  candidacy of Maurice Nguesso, in order to calm down the growing tension that sparked from the disqualification of Mathias Dzon and all those his party fielded into the 2007 legislative elections.

While Mathias Dzon doesn’t want to speak on the real cause of their fallout ,only claiming that, it was because he opposed the way President Denis Sassou Nguesso began running the country, especially regarding economic matters. Mathias Dzon however told me that: President had informed him that, he was no longer going to retain him in his reshuffled cabinet because of his ambitions. Whatever the challenges that I went through in Congo from the hands of  certain members of the ruling family and also from the security forces that culminated in my expulsion, I am happy that MNTV /Radio was the most successful amongst the various arms of the media group called MNCOM. It is true it was a lost making venture financially. But it gradually started operating like a modern company. My plans to turn it around financially were set for the 4^th year and it would have been 2015. My first goal was that, I wanted to establish and give MNTV/MN Radio credibility and then, my second plan was to focus on generation of funds in order to make it truly autonomous. The challenge to make MNTV/Radio both subsidiaries of the media group MNCOM to become professional and also make it attractive was a success by September 2014.

It also proved all those who doubted Maurice Nguesso’s capacity to run a viable company wrong. MNTV/MN Radio won’t have been a success without the support of the entire staff and also the support of Maurice Nguesso, in spite pressure from his family. We had pitiable materials, lack of trained manpower, salaries were not paid regularly but with determination, we succeeded to make MNTV/ MN Radio to become a major media in Congo.  And in the 11^th August 2014 edition of the pan African French language magazine Jeune Afrique, a profile was written, though focusing on me, but it was thanks to the collective work of the MNTV/MN Radio that, I could be known. But it was not easy to work in Congo. Sometimes I had to cover-up some of my journalists who were on the verge of being arrested by the Police.  There are the cases of Guy Blaise Seydoux and Emery Patrice Orbargui.  I had pressure from the ruling Nguesso family and also from the government, especially the Police. Although I have written about the ruling Nguesso family, mostly in negative terms, it would be unfair to generalize or for me to claim that all members of the ruling family are bad. 

Oba Apounou: Only Maurice Nguesso could do something good in the Nguesso Family

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 independent 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 (Maurice Nguesso). 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 is the wife of the Lord Mayor of the Greater Brazzaville City Council. But where they used all weapons available in their distructive armory was on MN 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.  Maurice Nguesso is not interested in making money, but wants to help launder the dismal image of his younger brother.

And as already mentioned, on several occasions, most Congolese coming to work for Maurice Nguesso or in any of his companies think, that, they don’t need to invest much time to work. They (Congolese and some foreigners) are bent at taking away from Maurice Nguesso or any other Nguesso what they think is state money looted by the ruling family.  As far as most Congolese, who nevertheless adore Maurice Nguesso were concern and even within the ruling family, in particular amongst the Ninelle Sassou Nguesso wing of the ruling Nguesso family, they had all predicted that, MNCOM, in particular its Radio and Television station subsidiaries, were bound to follow the same trajectory of failure that most of Maurice Nguesso’s investments have taken before. This negative prediction was not only made by the children or ordinary members of the ruling family as abovementioned. Even the President of the Republic, who is the younger brother of Maurice Nguesso, wrote off the media ambition of his elder brother. No one believed MNCOM MEDIA GROUP will last long or make any meaningful impact within the media landscape of Brazzaville or the country.

I can still recall what Maria Maylin told me regarding, the President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s reaction, when she(Maria Maylin) told her that, I had decided to work with Maurice Nguesso who is the elder brother to the president. Marie Maylin told me that, the president of the Republic told her in French: “Elie SMITH est fini” or in English: it is all over professionally for Elie SMITH.  For as already mentioned, even President Denis Sassou Nguesso never believed that MNCOM will have any impact and since he had respect for me or so I thought, he never wanted me to come and destroy my career working for his older brother. Or it might have been the other way round, the president was perhaps afraid that, my decision to come and work in Congo would enable me to see the reality of his administration that outsiders seldom see. And sometime, in July 2011, when I came back to Brazzaville and along with Maurice Nguesso and the president of the Republic, we went to the Brazzaville cathedral to attend a special church service. It was a mass in remembrance of a certain Louemba, who was related to first lady: Antoinette Sassou Nguesso.

I don’t know or can’t recall with precision the kind of relationship that related Antoinette Sassou Nguesso with late Louembe, but I think he might be a brother or very close relative. After the service, the president Denis Sassou Nguesso called me in the presence of Maurice Nguesso, Jean Dominique Okemba, Antoinette Sassou Nguesso and his chief of protocol, Colonel Ibovi and he( Denis Sassou Nguesso) said: so you have decided to come and work for those things of Maurice?  His statement regarding his brother’s activities was disdainful, for he also believes that, almost all what his elder brother does, doesn’t work or he is being hoodwinked by those he hires to work for him.  What President Denis Sassou Nguesso did not know was that, if his brother was opening companies and offering employments to Congolese it was in a bid to launder his dismal image amongst the population.  And it also partly explains the reason why, Maurice Nguesso was not rigid in the way those companies were being managed. Maurice Nguesso was naturally not happy with what his junior brother said and I felt that, what the President had said   might be true.

But I was determine to show them all that, MNTV/Radio under my command won’t follow the same path of disorganization and lack of action plans or targeted objectives as  most of Maurice Nguesso’s companies may have taken. Hence I fought tooth and nail to gain autonomy for my entity (Television and Radio) and that desire for autonomy and the elevated degree of professionalism bore fruits. And those who were greatly surprised when they discovered that, MNTV /Radio were not a failure but a success, were first members of the ruling Nguesso family. They were followed by cadres of the Congolese Workers Party abbreviated in French as PCT. Oba Apounou told me that: For the first time, the Nguessos have created or done something in the county that most Congolese do like and admire . Oba Aponou is a member of the ruling party and former head of the ruling party in Brazzaville. He added: it was only Maurice Nguesso who could be capable of creating something that gives some credit to their family.