The golden boys of the Sassou Nguesso Kleptocracy:Alexis Vincent Gomez,Paul Obambi,Lucien Ebata

Paul Obambi: Azur Telecom

The presidential family or the ruling Nguesso family is also into the Telecommunication sector through one of their best known businessman: Paul Obambi. Mr Obambi is the majority shareholder of a Mobile telephony company: Azur Telecom. This company that Cendrine Sassou Nguesso is also a shareholder is headed by the younger brother of Mr Obambi by name Jean Bruno Obambi, a graduate of HEC in Montreal, Canada. Azur Telecom is not only present in Congo; she has subsidiaries in Gabon and Central Africa Republic. Mr Obambi is not only in the mobile telephony business, he is also into advertising, mining and oil sectors. He is also the owner of Congo Oil in the DRC. Although Paul Obambi staunchly refuses that his success is attached to his proximity to President Sassou Nguesso, many people that, I spoke to before writing this book has a contrary view. They all confirmed to me that Paul Obambi is fronting for President Denis Sassou Nguesso.  However all those who made the revelation or confirmed the claims did not want to be named publicly for fear of retaliation.

Alexis Vincent Gomez

While Paul Obambi operates in several sectors within the Congolese economy, the other golden boy of the system is Alexis Vincent Gomez. As his profile has indicated earlier, he is a lawyer and real estate mogul. Many people that I interviewed for this book confirmed to me that, Alexis Vincent Gomez was fronting for Mrs. Antoinette Sassou Nguesso, but like Paul Obambi, he has rejected any accusations of his supposed links with Antoinette Sassou Nguesso or any other member of the ruling Nguesso family. The other reality in Congo is that, without any proximity with members of the ruling Nguesso family, it is almost impossible to do business in the country. Most Lebanese and West African businessmen operating in Congo will back the latter claims. They (West African businessmen) can’t operate without the backing of one or more members of the ruling Nguesso family. Some West African and Lebanese businessmen do boast that, their businesses are either a cover for one of the Nguessos or for some influential persons within the system. They are no longer afraid to tell anybody who cares to listen that, they are doing business with the support of the ruling family. The Nguessos don’t have investments only in Congo. Some of their supports have invested massively out of Congo. The cases of Paul Obami with his mobile phone company present in Gabon and Central African Republic and Willy Etoka who has investments in Congo, Morocco, France and the United States. In the US, Willy Etoka has invested in a property at Potomac and McDonalds franchises. The rise of Willy Etoka from rag to richest would have been wonderful and also a source of inspiration to many poor and better educated Congolese if it was really the fruit of hard work. He was formerly a used tire merchant around Miadeka Street in Brazzaville and today he is the 10^th richest man in French-speaking Africa with a presidential ambition because he is fronting for Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso.

Lucien Ebata

Orion Oil, owned by Lucien Ebata is based in neighbouring DRC, precisely in Kinshasa. Orion Oil also has offices in Canada and Switzerland. Lucien Ebata is perhaps the top among the golden boys fronting for the Nguesso ruling family that I know personally besides Paul Obambi.  I had the opportunity while in Congo Brazzaville to interview him twice for my TV programme, La Grande Interview broadcast on MNTV. How he became rich is equally a fairytale comparable to that of Willy Etoka, earlier mentioned. My investigations have revealed that, in spite all the stories that are officially narrated as being the source of his wealth; the truth is that, the Nguesso families are the ones who have propelled him to the pinnacle of African business. However, what I was not able to pinpoint clearly, was who was his connecting man or woman within the Nguesso family. Some people I spoke with claimed that, he was working for Edgard Nguesso, while others claim that, he was working for Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso. Whatever the case, Lucien Ebata is not a self made business man as he would want the world to think he is, but a product of a corrupt system. He is one of the many conduits through which the ruling Nguesso family uses to siphon out of the country, funds generated from the sale of Congolese crude oil. Lucien Ebata is a brilliant businessman who has decided to diversify his business by going into the media. He has bought the franchise for French-speaking black Africa of the American magazine: Forbes. The French-speaking edition or Forbes franchise for Africa is known as Forbes Afrique and it has become a platform under which the ruling party uses to launder it image at home and abroad by organizing conferences for media professionals and for spent out politicians from western democracies: Guy Verhostadt, Pierre Raffarin, Dominique de Villepin or Vincente Fox to give themselves a semblance of political rejuvenation. It was through Forbes Afrique that Willy Etoka, one of the creatures of the system was exposed as the 10^th richest person in French-speaking Africa.  

X Oil Congo (Lynx Energy) another Denis Christel’s tentacles

Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso also has stakes in the Congolese subsidiary of a Swiss Oil exploration and marketing company known as Lynx Energy. In Congo Brazzaville, Lynx Energy is known as X OIL, formerly Puma. And X OIL is the second fuel distributing company in the country after the French multinational, Total, with several fuel retailing stations.  The subsidiary of the Swiss company in Congo doesn’t only do business with Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso; she equally does business with Maurice Nguesso. How?  Through Maurice Nguesso’s boat towing and vessels managing company, NGM trading, currently known as NGM Congo. The boat towing and vessels of Maurice Nguesso’s company plies the Congo River and transports fuel and other goods between Brazzaville, Betou in the north and Mbandaka in the DRC.  X Oil uses the services of Maurice Nguesso’s NGM Company to transport oil from Matadi in the DRC to Brazzaville and also to Mbandaka in the DRC. Besides being into business deals with Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso and his uncle Maurice, X Oil is also into business transaction with Mrs. Antoinette Nguesso. The building that houses the headquarters of X Oil in Congo is owned by the first lady of Congo and this way, the Swiss based company is certain that all members of the ruling family have a share in the pie, thus facilitating their operations in the country. Besides being into fuel distribution, Denis Christel is also into oil exploration.

Willy Etoka & Youcef Abass

However this time around, Denis Christel operates through a straw man called Willy Etoka. Through Willy Etoka, Denis Christel controls strings of oil wells in the north of Congo and the main oil well that he owns one is called Likouala, named after the region that the well is situated. According to those in the know, the Likouala oil field was abandoned by Total SA because of apparent low oil yields and high operational cost. It was taken over in a joint venture with a certain Youcef Abass, from the United Arab Emirates. Mr Abass himself had an oil exploration company called Piliatus that had oil exploration license around the Mossaka basin. The drilling materials for Piliatus were transported from Brazzaville to Mossaka by NGM Congo.   Likouala Oil, officially owned by Willy Etoka is now called Petroleum SA and not to be confused with the other the Petroleum owned by Maurice Nguesso, based in Pointe Noire and which specializes in services on oil rigs. Denis Christel’s tentacles doesn’t end with the above, he is also in the financial sector. He owns a finance company called La Financier and once again through a surrogate: Innocent Dimi.  He is also into agro-industry and again through Willy Etoka and his new company is called Huilka, whose new name is Eco Oil.

Abraham Okoko

In order to improve his image, Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso is equally into philanthropy. He is the promoter of a foundation known as Perspective D’Avenir. This foundation is headed by Reverend Father Abraham Okoko. Perspective D’Avenir doesn’t not only serve to launder his image through his selective generosity to the people that his father and his family have helped to impoverish  through bad governance , it is also a front or platform under which he plans to succeed his father by 2012 or 2023 . Although he is among the richest members of the family, Denis Christel still serves as conduit in return for cash for any investor that want to meet his father.

Denis Gokana

The other major actor playing the role of straw man for the family, in particular the President of the Republic, Denis Sassou Nguesso, is Denis Gokana. He was the former General Manager of the Societe Nationale des Petrole du Congo, SNPC and currently he is the special adviser to the President in charge of Hydrocarbons. Besides the latter function, politically, he is the ruling PCT party’s MP for Mboundji and member of the Politburo of the same party. In business, he is the owner of a small, but rising Oil exploration and Exploitation Company called Africa Gas and Oil Congo, AOGC. His company bought an oil well called Pointe Indienne off the coast of Pointe Noire and 48 km of pipeline for just $ 150 thousand. After X Oil, AGOC is the third fuel distribution company in Congo. They have even over taken SNPC distribution that has also started owning fuel filling stations around the country. It is believed that, the real owner of AGOC is not Denis Gokana, but President Denis Sassou Nguesso. However, it is difficult to prove, because, most instructions from the President and other transactions are carried out orally.

Congo Brazzaville: Straw men of the regime

In every corrupt system and not to mention a Kleptocracy, those benefiting from the system most often do not have the expertise to manage their wealth or investments. They are either unqualified or woefully incompetent or both in some sad cases. And sometimes in order not to attract attention, beneficiaries of Kleptocracies most often chose to hide or operate through straw men and women. This way they hope, they can best dissimulate their loot. In Congo, those helping the ruling Nguesso family to siphon state funds are an intractable web of mostly “strange” men whose opaque business successes are always glamorized in their state media and alleged private media. However among the tentacle of straw men of the Nguessos, those who standouts are: Denis Gokana, Paul Obambi, Willy Etoka, Vincent Gomez and Lucien Ebata. Some of them: Paul Obambi and Vincent Gomez, have been profiled in this book (See who is who in Congo).  The list of straw men or women working on behalf of the Kleptocratic family latter mentioned is not an exhaustive. But at least, those mentioned are present in strategic areas of the Congolese economy.

Pierre Cardin Communist

Officially, Denis Sassou Nguesso, in strict respect to his communist ideology doesn’t want to own any colossal property, at least, officially. And he also pretends not to have amassed wealth. In fact, he claims to lead a frugal life style. But the reality is different. He is referred to as a “Pierre Cardin Communist” because of his taste for French designer suits and also the recent disclosures of his excesses and those of his children by anti corruption NGOs based in London and Paris such as Global Witness, Sherpa and Transparency International. He is also accused of having amassed enormous fortune in foreign banks. While I don’t dispute the preceding claims, I would like to focus on what I have found out during my investigations in Congo. 

Sectors they control

Revelations were made to me by people who are around the president, but who won’t want to be named. They reveled to me that: Denis Sassou Nguesso besides officially being involved in farming and animal husbandry, he is unofficially involved in publishing through his firm known as Agence d’information de l’afrique Central abbreviated ADIAC. This company owns one of the most modern printing presses in the country besides that of Ayessa Printing Press, owned by Maurice Nguesso. ADIAC is the publisher of the only daily in the country: Les Depeches de Brazzaville. This simply means that, the first publishers in the country are Denis and Maurice Nguesso.

 Covered up

ADIAC media group is managed by a French journalist called Jean Paul Pigasse. In order to make sure that all traces of his investments are well covered up and is not challenged by any forms of internal competition; he has maneuvered for the national printing press to be run aground. Hence the national daily: La Nouvelle Republique has become a sporadic publication, while his daily, Les Depeches de Brazzaville blossoms with regular publications. In destroying both the national printing press and the national daily, Sassou Nguesso is certain that, Les Depeches de Brazzaville will remain the only daily in the country promoting his regime and his printing Press winning all other deals. Besides being into the media/publishing, the president is also into the banking sector through a straw man.