Author: Emmanuel Mbala

Preparatory Forum in Brazzaville Sets Tone Twenty-six months before the opening ceremony, the organising committee of the Association Désir d’Unité convened a strategic citizens’ forum on 29 November 2025 in Brazzaville. Presided over by its coordinator, Jean De Dieu Kourissa, and attended by the political adviser to the Prefect of the Pool, Francis Tela, as well as the patron, Belinda Ayessa, the meeting laid the operational foundations for the forthcoming Unity and Development Days to be staged in Kinkala in January 2026. In his keynote address, Kourissa recalled that the Department of the Pool has endured recurrent instability since 1993.…

A toast to a renewed alliance for 2026 Glasses clinked under the chandeliers of the U.S. residence in Brazzaville on 3 December as Chargé d’Affaires Amanda Jacobsen used the traditional year-end reception to cast her gaze three years ahead. Addressing senior Congolese officials, business leaders and representatives of civil society, the diplomat spoke of an alliance that, in her words, “will help create the environment necessary for investment, education and growth.” Her remarks, delivered in both English and French, set the tone for a far-reaching programme designed to consolidate Congo-Brazzaville’s role as what she called “a pillar of stability in…

Diplomatic encounter signals deeper institutional ties On 3 December in Brazzaville, the Mediator of the Republic, Valère Gabriel Eteka-Yemet, welcomed Hilmi Ege Türemen, Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to the Republic of Congo. The courtesy call, held in the calm offices overlooking the banks of the Congo River, was neither ceremonial nor anecdotal. It marked, in the words of the Turkish envoy, the first concrete step toward structuring “a relationship that will benefit both parties.” By placing the Congolese Mediator’s institution at the heart of his working agenda, Ambassador Türemen underscored Ankara’s interest in governance tools that safeguard citizens’…

Cameroon custody death renews scrutiny of prison conditions The unexpected death of Cameroonian opposition stalwart Anicet Ekane while under detention has sent a tremor through Central Africa’s political sphere. According to family members, the veteran activist was deprived of adequate medical attention during his incarceration, a claim that has prompted calls for an independent autopsy and transparent judicial clarification (family statement). Ekane, long-time leader of the Manidem movement and an outspoken critic of successive administrations in Yaoundé, was being held on charges linked to an unauthorised rally. His demise now risks re-energising a fragmented opposition landscape and forcing the authorities…

A Symbolic Address on the Republic’s Anniversary Each 28 November, the Republic of Congo celebrates the proclamation that, six decades earlier, laid the institutional foundations of the nation. This year, the commemoration acquired a heightened resonance as President Denis Sassou Nguesso chose the occasion to deliver his constitutionally mandated message on the state of the nation before the two chambers assembled in congress at Brazzaville’s Palais des Congrès. In an atmosphere described by participants as both solemn and forward-looking, the Head of State articulated a narrative in which the preservation of peace and the nurturing of entrepreneurship emerge as the…

A solemn tribute in the heart of Congo The garden of the Algerian Embassy in Brazzaville was unusually hushed on 27 November as diplomats, historians and members of the diaspora gathered beneath the tricolour crescent flag. Their purpose was to commemorate the seventy-first anniversary of the 1 November 1954 declaration that ignited the Algerian War of Liberation. A minute of silence, broken only by the faint rustle of palm fronds along the Congo River, paid homage to what Ambassador Azeddine Riache called “millions of martyrs, orphans and uprooted citizens whose sacrifice resurrected our nation”. The choice of Brazzaville, a city…

Seeds of Peace Sown in Yalavounga On 26 November, the quiet hillside of Yalavounga, ten kilometres from Kinkala, ceased to be merely a geographical coordinate and became the emblem of a new social contract. Forty cooperatives of former combatants and neighbouring residents received the keys to a ten-hectare market-garden laid out under the Tatoungueno project, the agricultural spearhead of the national Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Programme (PDDR). The ceremony, officiated by Noël Léonard Essongo on behalf of Minister of State Florent Ntsiba, gathered an array of institutional and development partners whose mere juxtaposition spoke volumes about the priority attached to…

Presidential resolve on public safety Addressing both Houses of Parliament on 28 November in Brazzaville, President Denis Sassou Nguesso delivered a forceful reminder of the constitutional duty that binds him to protect every citizen. Describing the criminal networks known locally as “koulounas” as “groups without faith or law”, he declared that their systematic pursuit would continue “in every corner until the last bandit is apprehended”. The Head of State stressed that his determination should be understood as non-negotiable, underscoring that security lies at the heart of the social contract between the Republic and its people. Peace of mind as a…

Strategic UN Engagement Gains Momentum in Brazzaville The discreet arrival in Brazzaville of André Kangni Afanou, Africa Coordinator for the Geneva-based Center for Civil and Political Rights, signals a pivotal stage in the Republic of Congo’s dialogue with the United Nations Human Rights Committee. After a postponement linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country is preparing the periodic report required under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Speaking on 25 November, Mr Afanou confirmed that his organisation “stands ready to accompany the Congolese authorities and society at large in producing a document that reflects both achievements and remaining…

A congress defined by generational renewal Brazzaville’s Palais des Congrès pulsed with a rare aura of consensus on 22 November as the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS) concluded its second ordinary congress. Delegates from all departments voted for 34-year-old parliamentarian Jeremy Lissouba to become secretary-general, the pivotal executive post entrusted with day-to-day coordination of the centre-left formation founded three decades ago by the late President Pascal Lissouba. The decision, announced from the rostrum by outgoing interim leaders, was greeted by long applause, confirming a strategic wager on youth intended to reboot the party’s operational culture without rupturing its historical…