Sassou Nguesso's Sleek method of stifling press freedom in Congo Brazzaville

Media

As already mentioned, there are a number of Congolese journalists who have been killed by this regime and many others who have either been forced into exile or have abandoned the profession altogether. The preceding are not an exhaustive means or methods used by the government to stifle press freedom. Intimidation or beating of journalists are regularly used and the government  also goes the extra mile of intimidating families of journalists, who will in turn prevail on their husbands, wives or children who are journalists to support  the state and its propaganda.  Besides intimidation or executions, there are equally several journalists who have been expelled from the country because their method of work is too professional and independent minded for the regime to withstand.  Paradoxically, in spite the abovementioned grim picture, there are no journalists in the jails of Congo, hence some international media organisations such as Reporters without Borders, RSF tend to give the country better media rankings than relatively freer countries within the region. But RSF or other media organisations are not to be blamed. They are victims of Congolese government’s sleek manipulations tactics. As of the 4^th day of June 2017, there were no journalists in any Congolese jail and no journalists have been killed since I was expelled from in 2014.  In reality Congo remains one of the most treacherous countries for journalists on the African continent.  The example to back my latter claim is the recent arrest of Ghys Fortune Bemba, the publisher of Talassa newspaper on fallacious claims that, he is supporting terrorism, simply because, he granted an interview to Frederic Bintsamou aka Pastor Ntumi and published it in his newspaper: Talassa.

Sleek method of stifling the press

The government of Congo has put in place a sleek method of stifling press freedom that may not be visible to the eyes of an uninitiated observer. The first tool of press repression in Congo is not the Police as would generally be thought or expected. Institutions such as the country’s Press and Communications Monitoring Board, officially known in French  as the Conseil Superieur de la Liberte Communication, CSLC, is the first and foremost arm of press obstruction. This organisation is promoted by the government as an agency that regulates the press, ensures professional best practices and grants broadcast frequency in the country. What contradict the noble objectives of the government agency are the political affiliations and ideologies of those who are appointed to lead the organisation and other negative aspects below listed.

Philippe Mvouo

The first problem with the CSLC is its current chair, Philippe Mvouo. However, he is not very different from his predecessor, Jacques Banagazala, who is currently among the 131 political prisoners detained at the Brazzaville, central prisons.  Philippe Mvouo is not only a member of the ruling Congolese workers party, PCT; he is also reported to be a close to two chieftain of the regime: Firmin Ayessa, the chief of staff to President Sassou Nguesso and also Jean Dominique Okemba, the nephew of President Sassou Nguesso and also his special adviser. The hyper proximity of Philippe Mvouo to the Firmin Ayessa and Jean Dominique Okemba might explain the reasons why, since he(Philippe Mvouo )was appointed as chair of CSLC, he has proscribed or suspended a record number of newspapers under the fallacious claims that, their contents were not professional or outright libelous. However after investigations, it was discovered that, almost all the newspapers suspended or banned were simply because they were either considered as too independent or that, they published news that exposed influential members of the government and also members of the Kleptocracy: Jean Dominique Okemba, Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso, Jean Jacques Bouya and many others. 

Guy Milex Mbondzi: Profile of an insatiable investigative journalist

Guy Milex Mbondzi:  He is a journalist and publisher of La Voix du Peuple.  And La Voix du Peuple, in my opinion is perhaps along with other newspapers such as: Sel Piment, Nouvelle Observateur and La Griffe, the last truly independent newspapers left in Congo. But as at the time, that I was typing or writing this book, La Voix du Peuple had also suffered the same fate of Talassa newspaper. That is, banned indefinitely by the government of Denis Sassou Nguesso. However, he now runs or publishes, La Trompet, a sister newspaper. Unfortunately for him and the Congolese readers, La Trompet newspaper has also been banned by the government. Until the indefinite ban of La Voix du Peuple, took place, it was perhaps the only newspaper in Congo, which held the record in term of suspensions from the government. It immediate competitor was Talassa. It was thanks to La Voix du Peuple and also Talassa that, the scandal of the sale of Congolese diplomatic passports to Lebanese, suspected of belonging to Hezbollah was exposed. La Voix du Peuple was the first to reveal the secret love child of Jean Dominique Okemba. The mismanagement at LCB Bank by its former manager, Younes El Masloumi was exposed or revealed by La Voix du Peuple and when Jean-Jacques Bouya appointed his younger brother, Serge Bouya as the deputy Director of the Pointe Noire Autonomous Port, the paper that broke the news was La Voix du Peuple. The head of the Congolese National Communications Commission, Mr Philippe Mvouo calls Mbondzi a “terrorist journalist” while Clement Mierassa, chair of an opposition party calls him a freedom fighter.  

Mbonzi’s insatiable love for investigative journalism has created him several enemies within the circles of power and also within the journalism profession. Within the profession, some of his colleagues are jealous of him because, he is young and also because of the notoriety that he has created for himself and newspaper, within a very short time.  Until I was expelled from Congo by General Jean Francois Ndenguet, because I dare protest after he ordered thugs to attack my home and also gang rape my younger sister, I have been observing Guy Milex Mbonzi with admiration. I was impressed and I always said to myself that, if Congo had five courageous and honest journalists such as Mbonzi, the days of the dictatorship of Denis Sassou Nguesso would have been numbered. Sadly, most Congolese journalists are professionally lazy, corrupt and dishonest. They are mostly animated by foolish pride, sterile nationalism, jealousy and envy. Most often some observers do accuse the opposition and civil society organisations in the country for not only being weak, but corrupt. And they claim that, it is because of the weak, corrupt and divided oppositions and civil society organisations, which have made Denis Sassou Nguesso to stay longer than needed in power. It is partly correct, but they also forget to mention the aspect of violence employed by the government on the population, as being another factor in the long reign of Denis Sassou Nguesso. 

The other perhaps crucial aspect seldom mentioned in to the reason why Denis Sassou Nguesso can extend his rule or misrule, without and organized resistance or prolonged protest, is the dubious role played by most Congolese journalists and their press. Most Congolese journalists are not only corrupt; some even go the extra mile of betraying their colleagues and members of the opposition to the Police, for a monthly stipend.  Most Colleagues journalists work as spies for the regime, especially for the Police. However, Guy Milex Mbonzi and some few others are the exceptions to the rule in a country whose press is rotten. Throughout my stay in Congo, I knew that, La Voix du Peuple has been published and is in circulation, whenever I saw Guy Milex Mbonzi, dressed in a black Mao Zedong style coat and holding his black briefcase and walking around the business and administrative district of Brazzaville. Instead of him hiding in his BasCongo neighbourhood, whenever he published La Voix du Peuple, he was in town. And more, he was aware that, each edition of La Voix du Peuple on the newsstand was synonymous to a bomb explosion of revelations on the lives of the rich and powerful. And in spite the risk, he still had the effrontery to come and defy those on whom he had published articles.

The content of La Voix du Peuple was so valued and appreciated by the population to a point where, it survived economically without adverts until it was banned. His secret was simple. He did investigative journalism and focused not only on political subjects, but more on financial subjects and also on the political, economical and salacious lives of those governing the country. He is bold and enjoys risking taking. He is also a militant in the defense and protection of free speech and democracy. Furthermore, he is honest and knows how to keep secrets. Those are qualities, besides professionalism, that most Congolese journalists do lack. Guy Milex Mbonzi has created a name for himself because he doesn’t take bribe or is not at the mercy of any political affiliation. He has refused to used be by the government, especially by the Police of General Jean Francois Ndenguet to spy on opposition party leaders and other prodemocracy activists, as most of his colleagues are doing. However, he seems to have an idealistic view of the world and of Congo in particular.

Furthermore, he sometimes doesn’t make distinction between his profession and his hatred of the misrule of the country by Denis Sassou Nguesso and his cohort. He is a person who believes in Congolese and African traditions. He says he is an African Christian and a nationalist; hence he is a member or follower of Andre Grenard Matsoua. Followers of Andre Grenard Matsoua, a Congolese nationalist and pan Africanist are called the Matsouanists. Matsouanism is an indigenous Congolese Christian movement. He also leads a very secretive live, for it is not known whether he is married or whether he has a partner or children. To confront the current dictatorship in Congo, there is need for such bold press men and women like Guy Milex Mbondzi, who are not corruptible and who also believe in true multiparty democracy and freedom of speech. He is the only Congolese journalist , during my close to four years stay in that country, whom I have seen refuse money and also a proposition of trip to France to stay and continue his education. Those offers were made to him by Bienvenu Okiemi, former minister of Communications. The former minister wanted him not only stop investigating how he ran the ministry of Communications, but the minister also wanted him to give him his source of information within the ministry or elsewhere. Guy Milex rejected all those demands. All those transactions took place in my presence and the venue was the restaurant of Mikhael Hotel in Brazzaville. He stands out as an honest diehard advocate for press freedom and democracy, in a country where most journalists because of limited or no resources, have become informants of the police.

Ghys Fortune Bemba: Profile of a militant and fearless jourrnalist

Ghys Fortune Bemba: he is a journalist and publisher of a weekly newspaper called Talassa. Unfortunately, Talassa has been indefinitely banned by the government of Congo on the instruction of the president of the Republic, so I was told by Philippe Mvouo. Mr Mvouo is the head of the National Communications Council, a government body in charge of monitoring the press. Mr Bemba, who is must be said is not a journalist by profession but a theologian, who is at the forefront in the crusade against corruption and also against the dictatorial government of Denis Sassou Nguesso. unlike other professional journalists such as Joachim Mbanza or Alphonse Ndongo, who take precautions, Ghys Fortune Bemba enjoys risk taking when it come to denouncing corruption, state sponsored brutalities and all the excesses of the regime of Denis Sassou Nguesso. He likes championing lost causes and for that, he has also paid the price. Hence on several occasions he has been arrested and tortured. And sometimes, he is on voluntary exile in France or in Cameroon where he studied theology at the Protestant University of Yaoundé. He is militant and fearless and uses his paper to write or criticize corruption, human rights abuses and obstructions to press freedom and democracy.

What he lacks professionally and intellectually is compensated through his militant posturing. His fearless or boldness have helped solve several problems in the country. However, the only problem that I have noticed with Bemba is that, he likes talking more how he has succeeded in becoming rich with his colleague than on how to help improve the profession and also how best to fight against the current dictatorship.  When I came to see him, he will spend a long periods talking about his new buildings or his new car Rental Company. Like any other person of his stature, he has his own detractors. Some claim that, he can’t write French, while others claim that, he was formerly working in collaboration with General Jean Francois Ndenguet. But I have no proves of all those allegations. For if he was working for General Jean Francois Ndenguet as claimed by some of his detractors, his newspaper won’t have been ban and he would not have been a wanted man in the country. However, what I know with him is that, he is close to the opposition, in particular to Andre Okombi Salissa.