A choreographed return to civic order
When Minister of Sanitation, Local Development and Road Maintenance Juste Désiré Mondélé declared that “there will be no excuses” after 5 July, he encapsulated the spirit of a campaign that has become almost cyclical in Brazzaville’s recent history. Authorities argue that the capital’s arteries, many of them laid out in colonial grids never intended for a metropolis of two million inhabitants, can no longer accommodate the mushrooming of informal stalls, improvised sheds and stranded vehicles that impede traffic and compromise public health. The forthcoming operation mobilises police units, municipal agents and market committees in what officials describe as a concerted, educational deployment rather than a purely coercive sweep (Ministry of Sanitation press briefing, 2 July 2024).
Why 5 July matters in the diplomatic calendar
The chosen date is hardly arbitrary. With Independence Day festivities approaching in mid-August and a dense programme of sub-regional meetings on Congo’s environmental diplomacy scheduled for early September, Brazzaville’s leadership is keen to project an image of urban discipline consonant with its broader clean-city brand launched during the 2023 Three Basins Summit. Diplomats posted to the capital recall how visiting heads of state last year praised the city’s “green corridor” along Avenue des Trois Martyrs. That corridor, however, has since been partially reclaimed by street vendors who cite the economic downturn and rising food prices tracked by the Banque des États de l’Afrique centrale as forcing them back to sidewalks.
Informal commerce: indispensable yet contested
Economists at the World Bank estimate that the informal sector generates close to 70 percent of urban employment in Congo (World Bank, 2022). Street vending, therefore, is not a marginal activity but a social shock absorber. Urban planner Élodie Ngoma of Marien Ngouabi University notes that any eviction campaign must navigate a fine line between sanitation imperatives and livelihoods. “What the state often calls ‘illegal occupation’ is, for many families, the most immediate form of social protection,” she argues in a recent policy brief. Minister Mondélé acknowledges the dilemma, insisting that alternative market sites have been prepared in Makélékélé and Ouenzé and that a 48-hour awareness drive will precede enforcement. Whether relocation incentives—reduced stall fees, micro-credit lines and improved lighting—will suffice remains the pivotal question.
Institutional synergy and public perception
Unlike earlier clean-ups that were largely police-led, the July initiative involves neighbourhood chiefs, block committees and youth associations in what officials describe as a bottom-up communication strategy. The political calculation is evident: shared responsibility dilutes perceptions of top-down coercion while strengthening civic ethos. Preliminary surveys conducted by the national statistics office show that residents support street clearing by a wide margin when it is linked to visible waste removal and road repairs. Conversely, support wanes if enforcement appears selective or if confiscated goods are not transparently managed—a sensitivity the ministry says it will address through daily briefings to local media.
International observers view the operation as a micro-test of governance capacity. A senior diplomat from a multilateral agency posted in Brazzaville notes that the city’s sanitation budget has risen by 35 percent over three years, signalling sustained political will even amid fiscal constraints related to oil-price volatility. That increase, the diplomat argues, “adds credibility to Congo’s advocacy for climate-smart cities in Central Africa,” a theme likely to surface at forthcoming COP-29 side events.
Toward durable urban governance
Past experience suggests that the durability of street-clearing campaigns hinges on post-operation monitoring and inclusive urban planning. UN-Habitat’s 2023 city resilience profile for Brazzaville recommends integrating informal traders into municipal revenue systems through simplified licensing, thereby transforming a potential public-order issue into a tax base and service-delivery partner. Government officials hint that such measures are under review within a draft law on territorial collectivities now before parliament.
For the moment, attention focuses on 5 July and the pedagogical descent that precedes it. The authorities are betting that a mix of persuasion, moderate force and visible public-goods delivery will engrain new habits before the independence celebrations draw national and international spotlights. If the sidewalks remain clear into the rainy season, policymakers will claim not only a cosmetic victory but a substantive stride toward the sustainable-city agenda championed by President Denis Sassou Nguesso. In the measured words of Minister Mondélé, “This is less an eviction than an invitation to share public space more responsibly.” The days following 5 July will reveal how convincingly that invitation has been delivered—and accepted.
