Ifrikia Kengue: she is perhaps the best online journalist in
Congo. Calm, intelligent and above all, independent minded. She is the
antithesis of Sadio Kante-Morel in term of character. However, professionally,
she is to print media and online or social media, what Sadio Kante is to TV
journalism in Congo. Another difference with Sadio and her is that, she is
purely a journalist and keeps her political opinions to herself or expresses
them only to friends that, she has confidence in them. However, this has not
shielded her from being subject of attacks from the government and their thugs.
Ifrikia Kengue is in my humble opinion, the embodiment of what a journalist should
be. That is: hard working, not accepting the dictates of the employer,
especially if they are against the respect of human right and press freedom. In
my opinion also, a journalist must moreover be ready to defend and promote free
speech and free market, as well as, all liberal orientations.
Ifrikia Kengue is
also the antithesis of most Congolese girls, in particular female journalists,
whose only ambition is to be showy and always desiring to get married to a rich
old baron of the ruling party. Rather than count on men, she is hard working. She
does not only defy the macho world of the Congolese press, she has even gone
the extra mile to create her own media company. It is a testimony not only to
her professionalism but more of her independent and bold spirit. And in a
country where the press is weak and also where most journalists are not
digitally savvy, she is a pioneer in digital or online journalism in Congo. Her
only rival or competitor is Sadio Kante-Morel. Ifrikia Kengue is a graduate of
the school of Mass Communication of the Marien Ngouabi University in
Brazzaville. She has worked for several newspapers in Brazzaville and abroad
either as a permanent staff or as a stringer. Some of them are: Jeune Afrique,
La Semaine Africaine and Terrafrica. She is also known well as a prodemocracy
activist and also women’s right activists.
