Congo-Brazzaville: At a long last, War lord Ntoumi is in Brazzaville

Controversial Congolese clergyman and war lord, the Rght Reverend Pastor Frederic Bintsamou aka Ntoumi, has this morning, finally honoured the promise made to late President Omar Bongo. Late President Bongo, was the main mediator in Congo's two short but viciouly violent civil wars, that took palce between 1997 and 1998. This morning, the controversial clergyman, who has been leading a ragtag rebel movement in the restive Pool region of Congo, entered with some of his closest men in Brazzaville, the Congolese capital. With his entry in Brazzaville, where he is expected to occupy his post of special adviser to President Denis Sassou Nguesso, marks the end of Mr Ntoumi's rebellion. Mr Ntoum's Conseil National des Republicain (CNR) rebellion, has in recent time, lost all its ideological orientations and became a roguish group. For 10 years, Mr Ntoumbi's men, known in their trademark dreadlucks and volet colour attire, set havoc in the Pool region and occasionally, attacked the train linking Brazzville with Point Noire, the commercial capital, known as the Congo-Ocean railway.

Encouraging development

While it is an encouraging development, it is not the first time that, Reverend Pastor Bintsamou who is the leader of the National Republican Council (CNR), has entered Brazzaville, the Congolese capital. On the 10th of September 2007, he made a fanfarous entry in the Congolese capital, only to withdraw few hours later into his Pool fief. However, this time around, it is believed that, he has come to Brazzaville to stay. He is expected to discuss with the government the intergration of some of his 30 thousand combattants into various arms of the Congolese security apparatus. He will also discuss how his ex-combattants who will not be intergrated into the Congolese security system, will be disarmed and put into civilian life.

Reasons Why Ntoumi has decided to hang up his rifle

There are two reasons why Reverend Bintsamou is likely not to resume his rebellion. The first being that, he has lost control over most his combattants. The second reason why Bintsamou has left the bush and won't go back is that, he wants to become the political leader of the Pool region and the Greater south of Congo. The leadership position was held by late Bernard Kolelas. Bintsamou has the same intriguing mix of late Bernard Kolelas. Mr Kolelas was also a clergyman, politician , war lord and also for a while vitriolic enemy of President Sassou. Like late Bernard Kolelas, Bintsamou has become an ally of President Sassou Nguesso. Whatever the case, it is a good thing provided it last long and bring last peace in Congo. Currently, there is a leadership vaccum in the Pool region, that can't be fill out by late Kolela's son Parfait, who is currently, a minister in President Sassou Nguesso's government. With parliamentary and senatorial elections scheduled in Congo in two years time, political horse trading has just started.

Gabon is not ready to co-host the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations

A Gabonese delegation made up of 15 people, visited Equatorial Guinea last Sunday, December 19th. The Gabonese delegation, which came on board a chartered Nouvelle Air Service aircraft, was led by Gabon’s Sports minister, Rene Ndemezo Obiang. The delegation was received at the Malabo International Airport by Mr. Ruslan Obiang Nsue, Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of state in charge of Youths and Sports. The Gabonese delegation came to Malabo to attend a meeting of the mixed commission, responsible with the organization of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations will be co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Both delegations held two meetings. The first was the usual courtesy meeting, which took place at the VIP hall of the Malabo International Airport and the second, a much more serious one, was held in one of the conference halls of the ultra modern brand new Malabo 11 stadium. At the meeting held at the Malabo 11 stadium, both delegations, discussed how to put up a common strategy, in order to stage a successful Africa Cup of Nations come 2012. The other topics discussed were the adoption of a common logo, mascot, web site, and the various themes to be used during the competition. They also discussed about the issuing of visas before and during the competition, venues of the opening and final matches and also the venue for the 2012 General Assembly of CAF.

Tension


While the meeting seems calm and cordial, there was tension lingering. There were signs that, the brewing conflict and divergence of views between Gabon and Equatorial Guinea may scuttle the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. The primary reason behind the tension was Gabon’s posturing. The Gabonese delegation came to Malabo with a Mascot and Website already prepared and wanted it to be adopted immediately as the official Mascot and Website of the 2012 tournament. The Mascot chosen by Gabon is a carbone copy of that of France 98 with some slide modification. The vexing issue according to Equato-Guineans was that, Gabon's Mascot was not only a carbone of France 1998,it did not take into consideration the identity and culture of Malabo. The second bond of contention between both countries is that, Gabon’s president Ali Bongo Ondimba, according the influential French language news letter “Lettre du Continent”, had announced that ,his country were to host the opening and final matches of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012. It was the second unilateral decision taken by Libreville without consulting Malabo. It took the special mediation tactics of Gabon’s Sports minister to make the meeting between both delegation to continue. According to the official programme, the Gabonese delegation had to visit the Malabo 11 stadium, where their meeting was held with host. They also had to visit the new Luba stadium located some 40km from Malabo. But the Gabonese delegation did not accept to go to Luba to visit the new stadium, claiming officially that, they had to travel to Cameroon's coastal city of Victoria ( Limbe) to attend the finals of CEMAC youths tournament. The Gabonese delegation also declined the cocktail organised in their honour at the cosy August 3rd Hotel of Malabo. Besides those misunderstandings, which could be ironed out between both delegations, there is a serious hosting problem on Gabon’s part.

Equatorial Guinea is Ready to Host


While Malabo is already well prepared to stage the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, it is not the case with Gabon. Equatorial Guinea has 9 stadia ready for the games located in six cities: Bata, Malabo,Luba, Ebibeyin, Evinayong and Mongomo. And concerning accommodation, CAF rules requires that, host countries have at least 5000 rooms available. As at now, Equatorial Guinea has more than 6000 rooms ready and with the constructions of new hotels going on around the country, before 2012, the country will have more than 10 thousand rooms ready to host the games. The new hotels will be a great boost for the tourism industry that the country wants to launch. Furthermore, Equatorial Guinea has an elaborate network of well macadamized roads. In total, Equatorial Guinea has more than 2000km of tarred roads. It is a figure that is likely to double before 2012, for the country is in a massive road construction spree. Although Equatorial Guinea doesn’t have a territorial continuity, it is not a disadvantage. One part of the country is located on the continent, while the other parts, made of seven islands are located on the Atlantic Ocean and the biggest of the seven islands is Bioko. On the continental and island parts, there are well tarred roads. Equatorial Guinea has also good air and maritime connections between the continental and island parts of the country. This simply means that, there will be little or no transportation problems during the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Equatorial Guinea.

Gabon is not ready to host

On the Gabonese part, it is a sad tale. The tournament would certainly be staged in the cities of Libreville, Port Gentile, Franceville and Oyem. While there are no roads and airports in most of Gabon, the cities selected to host the games have little or no facilities and are not linked between them by macadamized roads. Libreville and Port Gentile, are the most likely cities to host the Africa Cup of Nations if Gabon’s bid is not rejected. But between Libreville and Port Gentile, there are no roads and both have accommodation problems. The other problem with Gabon is that, she doesn’t have stadia that are ready or that meet the standards for hosting the Africa Cup of Nations. While Libreville's stadium might be ready, it is not the case with Franceville’s stadium. Franceville is the home town of President Ali Bongo Ondimba. Furthermore, Franceville stadium does not meet FIFA/CAF accreditation standards. An alternative might be Port Gentile stadium. Port Gentile is the economic capital of Gabon, but one doesn't know whether the main stadium of the city meets FIFA/CAF standard. Perhaps the Port Gentile stadium could be refurbished on time for 2012. While the Port Gentile stadium could be refurbished on time, it is not the same story with the Oyem stadium. Oyem is located in the north of the country and there, there is no stadium. Another problem with Gabon is that, all her hotels has only 980 rooms ready and almost all, are located in Libreville.

Lack of roads and hotel accommodation

And finally, while Gabon has no roads linking Libreville with the interior, it rail system is chaotic. Furthermore the rail system links the coast with Franceville and it is the terminus. The wagons are in poor sanitation condition and also compounded with poor security. As for Gabon's air transportation, besides Libreville and Port Gentile, no airports in the proposed interior cities of Gabon can receive or handled a wide body aircraft. In short Gabon is not ready for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Gabon would be ready if the games were to be staged only in Libreville and Port Gentille and this on the condition that, two cruise-ships are hired and anchored at the ports of Libreville and Port Gentille, in order to boost the hotel accommodation capabilities of the country. But the question remains, how can 16 matches be played on two pitches? Why did CAF give Gabon the co-hosting right for the 2012 while knowing fully well that, Equatorial Guinea could organise the tournament alone? CAF should start looking for a different country to co-host the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 or ask Equatorial Guinea to host the tournament alone. There are many countries in the sub-region that will be willing to step in should Gabon falters. Possible replacements are the Republic of Congo, Cameroon, the DRC and even Nigeria. But the best would be for Equatorial Guinea to be allowed to host the tournament alone. They are fit and well prepared. With 20 months left to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, one doesn’t by what miracle will Gabon be able to construct four new stadia, hotels and build proper road networks that will be ready to host Africa’s greatest soccer rendezvous .

Equatorial Guinea: provisional presidential elections result

Equatorial Guineans came out en masse today to elect their next President. The winner, will rule the oil rich country for a period of 7 years. It is the third time, since the re-introduction of multiparty democracy in the former Spanish territory, that its citizens will be voting to elect their president. Besides Western Sahara, which is currently occupied by Morocco, Equatorial Guinea is the other Spainish-speaking country on the continent. Therefore, Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara, are the only countries on the continent who are Spainish-speaking or whose official language is Spainish. This morning, as I went around the capital called Malabo, which was formerly known as Santa Isabelle, the atmosphere was calm. The calm of the island was occasionaly broken by some specially authorised cars and vehicles owned by the Police or the Army, who were on patrol. Today, besides emmergency cases or specialised authorisations, the use of any means of locomotion or business activities is banned. According to authorities, the reason to ban all mobility and business activities was to encourage Equatorial Guineans to go and vote massively. And if that was the real reason, then the government has succeed. For the turn out here on the island capital was impressive. However, Equatorial Guinea is not the only country in the sub-region that have I seen the government impose a kind of curfew on the eve and during elections day.

The calm I noticed in Malabo, the capital was at the image of the rest of the country. It was also the situation that, I noticed during campaigns. There was no major of minor incidence here in Malabo or on the continental part of the country called Bata. It is an indication that, democracy is making headway in Equatorial Guinea. All over I went, I also noticed with surprise that, posters of Placido Mico Abogo were placed along side those of the out going President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Mr Placido Mico Abogo is the out going President's main rival and he has been thrown into the not so good jails of Equatorial Guinea, several times, for having challenged the long standing leader. The simple fact that today, Placido Mico's efiges were posted all over the capital and he was also granted the official pre-campaign financial aid of CFA Francs 300 million, sum allocated to all political parties taking part in the elections, was to me, another indication that, this former Spainish colony is making progress in the area of democracy or the respect of different views and political opinions.

To those from countries with relatively advanced form of democracy, the fact that, posters of the out going president were placed side by side with those of his main rival might appear insignificant or not considered a substancial yardstick to measure the democratic progress in Equatorial Guinea. But here, it is a huge progress. Equatorial Guinea has many political parties and as well as leaders, all claiming to be the rivals of incumbent President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. But the real contenders of the longstanding president are Placido Mico, Archivaldo Montero, Carmelo Mba Bakale and Buenaventura Moswi Masumu. And today? on election day, Mr Montera voted in his fief, located in the opposition stronghold Rebola. Rebola is a neighbourhood located on the outskirt of Malabo. It is a rural community whose main source of income comes from agriculture. As for the following candidates: Buenaventura, Carmelo, Teodoro and Placido, they all voted at various polling centres in the heart of the capital, Malabo. Meanwhile, provisional results released by Electoral Commission has the following results: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo: 96% and Placido Mico Abogo : 0.7%

Afriquiyah Airways: a rising star in African aviation industry ?

My visit to Mbaiki via Bangui, the capital of Central African Republic, where I was to cover the official launching of President Francois Bozize's political party: Kwa na Kwa, was confirmed at about 11:45 pm on the 11th of November 2009. November 11th, is one of those important dates on the calendar that, I do give a lot of consideration to. It is the Rememberence Day or the day that marked the end of the First World War(WW1), which lasted four years and four months. I spent that entire day of November 11th with my family, watching the commemoration live on Sky TV and I was about to go to bed that night, when my mobile phone rang to confirm that, I had to leave the next day for Mbaiki via Tripoli and Bangui.

Connecting Africa

But in order to reach the Central African capital of Bangui, the only flight that, I could take, was Afriquiyah Airways. Afriquiyah Airways, is a Libyan carrier serving 18 African destinations via their Tripoli hub. The motto of the Libyan pan African carrier is: Connect Africa to the world. It is not just a mere slogan, for the Libyan carrier is truly contributing to connect Africa and Africans with the rest of the world. However, Afriquiyah is not the only African carrier, pretending to connect the African continent with the rest of the world. The other ones are: Ethiopian Airlines, Royal Air Maroc and Kenyan Airways. In fact, Kenyan Airways has just added Bangui, to their list of destinations on the African continent. All three African carriers do use their capital cities as hubs.

Absence of intra African connections

In short or in theory, there is no problem leaving Europe, the Americas or Asia to any African destinantions. But the problem lies in Africa. On the African islands or mainland Africa,there is shortage or absence of intra African connections. For example, it is more expensive to fly from Yaounde, the capital of the Cameroons to Conakry, the capital of Guinea. It is also cheaper to fly from Windhoek , Namibia to Casablanca in Morocco via London, than to fly directly from the South west African state to the North west African kingdom. It is therefore important, for such an important market to be developped and tapped. However, it seems as though major Africans carriers as well as non Africans carriers do ignore or snub the potentials of intra African aviation market. But there are some African carriers such as the Nigerian Eagle Airlines formerly Virgin Nigeria and Air Ivoire who are in the regional market segment albeit with varying degrees of success. But they too, are suffering from being overly regional and less trans-regional. Meanwhile the huge intra african regional and trans-regional market lays falllow waiting to be exploited. Any carrier that will succeed to transport Africans from North, Central, West and Southern Africa, including the countries that are not on the mainland Africa, will reap a financial jackpot. Intra and trans-regional air transportation has the advantage to increase trade and foster intergration , which is the dream of some African politicians.

Past expirience

But concerning Afriquiyah Airways, and my trip to Mbaiki via Bangui, it was the only airline that I could take, as I have already mentioned. However, the first time that I boarded Afriquiyah Airways to Bangui, was in December last year. I traveled to Central African Republic to cover the National Inclusive Dialogue, which was the last peace mediation initiative carried out by late President Omar Bongo Ondimba, before he died in a Spainish hospital. The Afriquiyah Airways flight that I boarded, that December 2008, was an appalling aging aircraft with dirty seats that were squeaking. That trip did not leave me with a good impression, even though I was in the Business class. So at the thought of taking another Afriquiyah flight, I cringed. Afriquiyah Airways is a new company created by Libya's leader Colonel Gadaffi, to fill out a niche and also to promote his pet project, which is the creation of the United States of Africa. Before him, the other African leader who had such a dream was Ghana's Nkwame Nkrumah.

Decisions driven by emotions

In short, my first trip to Bangui on board Afriquiyah Airways was so bad that, I bought an Air France ticket, when I was returning back to France and I even promised never to take Afriquiyah Airways. But on the night of November 11th, I learn how it was not a good thing to make promises or take decisions driven by emotions. But the condition of my inugural flight to Bangui via Afriquiyah was horrible. The flight was not only dirty, the flight attendants spoke only Arabic and the females attendents all donned their black head scarves. I had two choice on the night of November 11th, accept to cover the creation of a new party in a country that was gradually recovering from years of civil war and use Afriquiyah to witness the midwifing or refuse, and allow others to tell me or write about the historic moment. The new party that will be launched in Mbaiki would certainly rule Central African Republic for a very long time,for its founder, President Bozize, is the one who has brought stability to this Central African state.

Improved company

But when I arrived terminal 1 of the Charles De Gaulle International Airport and was done with my administrative and boarding formalities, I was surprised when I boarded. Had I not seen the insignia and the trade mark attendance, with their black headscrves, I would have thought that, I mistakenly took a different company. But it was Afriquiyah Airways, who had a brand new Airbus 330 to fly us from Paris to their Libyan hub of Tripoli. At the Tripoli International airport, I also noticed that, the reception has improved dramatically, from the approximations that they demonstrated last December 2008. The service on board was not extraordinary, but it had improved tremendously from what I saw in December last year. There was sufficient food and enough sitting space. But to those who drank alcohol, it was officially ban on board Afriquiyah, even though I noticed that, there were some passengers who had bottles of wine. I concluded that, a sort of smuggling or traffic was in practiced aboard.

Progress still needed

The change I noticed with Afriquiyah Airways was not only on their Paris- Tripoli bound flight. It was the same with the flight that took as from Tripoli to Bangui M'poko International Airport in Bangui. Our flight was on new Airbus 320. It was clean and the seats also had the trade mark green Libyan colour. Afriquiyah Airways has truly improved and she is keeping it promise or motto to connect Africa with the rest of the world, using Tripoli the Libyan capital as hub. Another un-song advantage that Afriquiyah Airways have, is that, it is cheap, but the cheapness, as I noticed, is not at the expense of quality. Sure, she needs to make more improvements. One will be to hiring on board staff who are not necessarily Libyans. This will help the company to demonstrate that, she is truly a trans-national carrier and not a national company aimed at promoting islamic values. Hence, it would be important for alcohol to be served on board, even though the funding comes from Libya.

KWA Na Kwa, Central African Republic's new political party

I left Paris, France on the 11th of November 2009 for Bangui, the capital of Central African Republic. I went to Central African Republic to cover the official launching of President Francois Bozize's political party called Kwa Na Kwa. Kwa na Kwa, means literally in English: hard work. Kwa na Kwa is a left oriented political party and the name is not in French or English, but in the national language called Sango and which is spoken by all Central Africans. The Sango language is a Bantu tongue, related to Lingala and Douala languages, spoken respectively in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo , Angola and the Cameroons.

The new political party that comes to enrich the number of officially political recognised formations in Central African Republic, will be used by President Bozize as a plateform in next year's presidential elections. Mr Francois Bozize, who came to power on the 15th of March 2003 via a coup d'etat, is not different from most African military leaders. He is a soldier, who has decided to swap his military fatigue for a three piece suit. The other recent transformation on the continent from military to civilian leader is General Abdulaziz of Mauritania and the next, will certainly be Captain Mousa Dadis Camara of Guinea Conakry. Before Abdulaziz and perhaps Dadis, it was Captain Blaise Compaore of Burkina-Faso, who is today the God father of rebel movements that has rocked West in the last decades. But today, Blaise Compaore is in his second transformation. He has metamorphosed from a sponsor of instability to peace-marker and mediator in regional conflicts.

As for President Francois Bozize, he wants to launched his own political in a bid to break free from the influences of political parties created by others and onto which, he has relied on, since he came to power six years ago. President Francois Bozize's party known as Kwa na Kwa, was officially launched on the 13th of November 2009 in Mbaiki. Mbaiki is the headquarters of the Lobaye prefecture and it is a region, that has produced three of Central African Republic's presidents. Namely: Bathelemy Buganda, David Dacko and Empero Jean Bendal Bokassa. The fact that President Bozize has decided to launch his party in Mbaiki, located 107km from Bangui the capital, is an indication that, he now has full control of the country and also that, he now masters all the internal political situation and games.

Central African Republic has been an unstable country since France unilaterally withdrew its forces and closed its military bases there in 1997. But since Francois Bozize came to power six years, the country is in relative peace. He did oragnised a national inclusive dialogue last December, which attended by the main political parties and different rebel movements. Today, most leaders of the opposition are either in the government or part of the many government agencies and commissions. One great achievement of President Bozize is that, salaries are now paid regularly in a country , where the government remains the first employer. The reason why civil servants are being paid regularly and on time, in the last six years is because, Mr Bozize heads the finance committee and supervises all entry and out going finances.

Central African Republic before March 15th 2003, was the example of one of the three failed states in Africa after the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, but due to the hard administrative machine put in place by Bozize, albeit at the expense of human rights, sanity is gradually coming back. Central African Republic is a country blessed with abundant natural resources such as: Gold, Diamond, Oil, Urananium , Timber and Coffee. Already investors, led by China are already scrambling to reap the dividend of the relative peace now enjoyed by the poorest and most under developped country in the CEMAC region. Central African Republic is an investors paradise, for every has to be reconstructed. The only exisiting infrastructure in the country were constructed late Empero Jean Bendal Bokassa and should the present peace consolidates, in five years time, Central African Republic will become another Equatorial Guinea

My recent visit to the United States (part 3)

Austin Police Department

While our Texas or precisely Austin port of call was not extraordinary in term of reception, some of the planned or programmed meetings/appointments were very instructive. For example the session at the Austin Police Department with Police Superintendent Art Acevedo, helped us in general and me in particular. For it changed positively, my perception of the US Police in general and in particular the Austin Police Department. There were two things that caught my attention at the Austin Police Department. The first was that: the head of the Police was of Hispanic ancestry or a minority. The second thing that did impress me was the ease with which the Police in Austin interacted with the media. They even had an office or a room set aside for the Press, where Press conferences were held to brief the media on burning issues. In France where I live, one hardly sees a minority at the head of the Police or any state department and second, the Police had very conflicting rapport with the Press.

Leander High School

Our meeting with the final year students of the Leander High School was an opportunity for us to see how future American leaders do react and how they would consider the world and the African continent in particular. It was interesting to discover that, the High School students shared some of our preoccupations and opinion about the US Press. The interactive session with students was beneficial to me and I think, such meetings should continue and be encouraged. In my opinion, it could help future American leaders to understand that, Africa was not a single country. It could also help fashion out their perception of the world that is now patterned by the Press that is selective in what they broadcast.

Republic of Congo: Obituary, Bernard Kolelas is no more

Writing from Bangui, Central African Republic,

Honourable Bernard Kolelas who died on the night of November 12th breaking November 13th, in Paris, France, where he has been undergoing treating for almost a year now, was one of the last three great Congolese pre-independence political figures. Mr Bernard Kolelas, was a native of the restive pool region of southern Congo. He was born on the 12th of June 1933 in the village of Mboloki.

Controversial Figure

Bernard Kolelas was a very controversial figure, with no clear cut ideological foundation. His mentor was Reverend Father Albert Youlou, the first President of Congo. After his mentor lost power to Alphonse Massamba-Debat, a Socialist, late Kolelas was offered the post of minister of Foreign affairs. Strangely, Bernard Kolelas who had converted to Socialism, declined the offer. Bernard Kolelas has always been connected to all subversive actions in his country. Hence he was arrested in 1964 for illegal importation of arms and rearrested in 1969 for having masterminded a failed coup against former President Marien Ngoubi, while (Kolelas) was in prison in Ouesso,a city located in the far north of Congo. He was sentenced to death and paraded in the Felix Eboue stadium of Brazzaville, amid booing crowds demanding his immediate execution. This was at the height of Socialism in Congo. He escaped execution because Commandant Marien Ngoubi, the revolutionary leader of Congo then, that he hated, decided to pardone him.

Religious leader and Politician

Mr Bernard Kolelas later became a religious and regionalist politician, who openingly called for the fall of Socialists governments in Congo and in 1989, he secretly founded a political party called: Movement Pour le Developpement Intergral (MCDDI). In 1992's regional and parliamentary elections, his party came second and in the Presidential elections of the same year, he came second in the first round of balotting. However, an alliance signed between the Congolese Workers Party of Denis Sassou Nguesso, who was the outgoing president with Pascal Lissouba , denied Bernard Kolelas his dream of governing Congo.

War lord

Mr Kolelas was a war lord and he created a militia in 1997 called the Ninjas and fought against former President Pascal Lissouba's own militia known as the Cocoyes and then against those of President Denis Sassou Nguesso known as the Cobras. After loosing the civil war, he went to exile and only returned in 2005 as an ally of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. He his party joined that of Sassou Nguesso and was part of the coalition government created after the 2007 presidential elections. His son Parfait Kolelas was the campaign manager of President Denis Sassou Nguesso in 2009 presidential elections and he is today a government minister. Mr Bernard Kolelas has died without achieving one of his dreams, which was to rule Congo, but he has succeeded to put his sons within the powersphere in a country whose power centre is controlled by people of the north, who seem to master administration better than their southern counterparts. With Bernard Kolelas death, Congo has lost one of the country's pre-independence political figures. The next on the list is former President Pascal Lissouba who is also terminally sick in Paris.