Author: Congo Times

Exam Success in Brazzaville Correctional Facility The rust-coloured gates of the Brazzaville Remand and Correction Centre briefly opened on 20 September not to release inmates but to let knowledge in. During a tightly choreographed ceremony, Colonel-Major Jean Blaise Komo, Director-General of the Penitentiary Administration, distributed the official attestations for the 2025 session of State examinations: the Primary School Certificate, the Junior Secondary Brevet and, most coveted, the General Baccalaureate. In a context where study hours are constrained by security protocols and materials often scarce, fourteen candidates had nevertheless braved the syllabus; eleven were declared successful, a record percentage that the…

A diplomatic handshake with financial resonance The margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York offered an opportune theatre for the first encounter between the newly installed president of the African Development Bank, Sidi Ould Tah, and President Denis Sassou Nguesso. On 22 September, the former Mauritanian minister, who took the helm of the continental lender on 1 September, paid tribute to what he called “the crucial role” played by the Congolese leader in his election and to the “steadfast support” that Brazzaville continues to extend to the institution (African Development Bank press communication, 22 Sept.). For the…

Symbolic Return to a Global Stage The marble-lined gallery of the United Nations General Assembly welcomed a familiar silhouette at the opening of its 80th session. President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who last addressed the hemicycle in 2022, chose the anniversary gathering to mark his return and, by extension, to reaffirm the Republic of Congo’s multilateral vocation. The timing is laden with symbolism: as the United Nations commemorates eighty years of existence, Member States are invited to reflect on the founding promise of cooperation that emerged from the ruins of the Second World War. For Brazzaville, whose diplomatic tradition is anchored…

Ministerial visit heralds a decisive upgrade Standing before the shimmer of newly installed servers on 12 September 2025, Energy and Water Minister Emile Ouosso purposefully signalled that the era of improvisation in the national power utility is fading. His inspection of Énergie Électrique du Congo’s headquarters, preceded by a tightly scripted technical briefing, crystallised government resolve to align the public operator with continental benchmarks. Speaking in the amphitheatre that now houses the company’s digital archive hub, the minister placed the reform in the broader trajectory of President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s development agenda, insisting that reliable electricity undergirds industrial diversification and…

Vatican II: A Global Re-awakening of Diaconal Service When the Second Vatican Council promulgated Lumen gentium in 1964, it restored the permanent diaconate as a full, stable order within the sacrament of Holy Orders. The conciliar fathers wished to strengthen a ministry of service that had largely disappeared in Latin-rite practice for almost a millennium. This global decision, reaffirmed in Ad gentes and broadened by Pope Paul VI, invited each bishops’ conference to discern its relevance to local contexts. In many regions, especially in Europe and the Americas, numbers of permanent deacons rose rapidly, embodying the Council’s call to bridge…

Diplomatic Bearings on the Libyan Chessboard Fourteen years after the fall of Tripoli’s previous regime, Libya’s political landscape remains fractured, yet a renewed multilateral drive is injecting cautious optimism. On 18 September, President Denis Sassou Nguesso, in his capacity as chair of the African Union’s High-Level Committee on Libya, received UN Special Representative Anna Tetteh in Brazzaville. The encounter, their first since the Ghanaian diplomat took office early this year, was described by both sides as “constructive” and “forward-looking”. Sources familiar with the meeting underline that the exchange consolidated a shared conviction: only a meticulously sequenced dialogue, under joint AU-UN…

A Sunday Journey That Ended in Tragedy Dawn had barely broken on 21 September when the Stelimac inter-city bus left Brazzaville for the Atlantic hub of Pointe-Noire. Somewhere along the winding section of National 1 bordering the village of Ngamandzambala, the driver lost control and the vehicle plunged into a roadside drainage ditch. Emergency services dispatched from Kinkala confirmed two fatalities at the scene and evacuated several wounded passengers to district medical facilities, according to an initial communiqué from the Ministry of Transports. While the human toll remains provisional, the emotional shock is already tangible among families and fellow travellers.…

Madingou breathes handball for eleven days For nearly a fortnight the usually tranquil Stade omnisport of Madingou transformed into a resonant arena where whistles, drums and chants blended with the thud of resin-coated balls. From 8 to 18 September 2025, twenty-three clubs representing Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, Pool and the host department of Bouenza contested the first edition of the senior men’s and women’s tournament tellingly christened “J’aime la Bouenza au sens propre”. The appellation, at once affectionate and ambitious, framed a competition designed to celebrate handball’s health in Congo-Brazzaville despite acknowledged governance challenges. Finals deliver drama and technical mastery The women’s…

High-stakes countdown to 27 September The calendar approved by the Congolese Football Federation (Fécofoot) envisaged a ceremonial kick-off for the 2025-2026 season on 13 September. Two weeks later, the whistle has yet to sound. The federation postponed the opening fixture to 27 September after the Ministry of Sports withheld access to the three national stadiums, citing the need for additional safety audits and technical conformity with recent Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA guidelines. With barely a fortnight remaining, officials are racing against the clock to avoid a second consecutive blank season, a scenario lamented by club executives as…

Beijing’s public tribute to Moroccan stability In the ceremonial setting of the Chinese capital on 19 September, Foreign Minister Wang Yi chose unusually direct language to salute “the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI” and to link that leadership to what he described as Morocco’s enviable domestic stability. Coming from a senior member of the Chinese State Council, the compliment went beyond protocol. It projected Beijing’s conviction that Rabat represents, in a region beset by volatility, an anchor reliable enough to serve as an entry point for initiatives that require predictability, security and long-term perspective. A partnership framed by…