Author: Mboka Ndinga

A Home-Grown Victory in the Capital In the luminous halls of central Brazzaville, the air was pierced by applause as Roger Mankindou, Miveck Rhignanga, Lutther Mabiala, Davy Madassou and Amadou Samanke lifted the inaugural trophy of the Lissolo Challenge. The five teammates, competing under the banner “Winner Premier”, each walked away with 50,000 FCFA, a modest sum in accounting terms yet a powerful symbol of the country’s nascent creative economy. Their success was not achieved on a football pitch but around a board that maps the Republic of Congo in all its linguistic, ethnographic and economic contours: Lissolo 2.0. “If…

A measured farewell to a transnational voice The passing of Déo Namujimbo, announced by his family on the night of 31 August in Vigneux-sur-Seine, quietly ends the earthly journey of a writer whose pen bridged continents and sensitivities (family statement, 31 August). Born in South Kivu, he embraced French citizenship after his 2009 exile, yet he never relinquished the moral duty he felt toward the peoples of the Great Lakes. His wake in the Île-de-France suburbs draws diplomats, scholars and members of the Congolese diaspora who recognise that literature, far from being a mere cultural artefact, often functions as an…

A Solemn Oath in Bouansa Echoes Through the Nation Under the ochre skies of Bouansa, the administrative seat of the Bouenza department, thirty-four pastoral trainees of the 2022-2025 cohort advanced one by one to raise a right hand and bind themselves, before God and their congregation, to a covenant of service. The ceremony, guided by the Synodal Bureau of the Evangelical Church of Congo, drew a cross-section of local society, including commissioners of police from Kinkala and Madingou, whose discreet presence lent an additional aura of civic gravitas. While oaths of office are commonplace in political life, the rite experienced…

A living mosaic in the heart of Mayombe Few regions of Central Africa illustrate linguistic multiplicity quite as vividly as the Mayombe massif in the south-west of the Republic of Congo. From the forest village of Makaba to the rail junction of Pounga, one encounters tonalities that blur clear-cut ethnic borders, weaving a palette of Kuni, Vili, Yombe and Beembe sounds into a single audible landscape. Former Télé Congo director Michel Mboungou-Kiongo, whose clan memories anchor this reflection, notes that the Bahungana branch settled in Les Saras adopted the local phonetic shift from Kiongo to Tchiongo, an example of how…

A Strategically Timed Digital Premiere In the early hours of 22 August 2025, while Brazzaville’s Avenue de la Paix still shimmered under sodium lights, a silent countdown on social media culminated in the appearance of “Ligne rouge”, the seventh studio project of Patrouille des Stars. Well before dawn, the orchestra’s global fan diaspora had triggered download notifications, signalling the effectiveness of a digital campaign that had relied less on algorithmic advertising than on carefully calibrated suspense. In less than twenty-four hours the release collected a critical mass of streams, affirming that Congolese rumba—inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2021—can still…

A Symbolic Breakthrough for Congolese Soft Power When Ketsia Chelsea Yoka stepped onto a London runway on 9 August, she did more than debut a collection: she carried the colours of the Republic of Congo into one of the world’s most discerning fashion capitals. Her presence represents a milestone in cultural diplomacy, signalling the ability of Congolese creative industries to compete internationally while subtly projecting the nation’s image of dynamism and modernity. In a global environment where soft power often travels faster than official communiqués, the success of a single model becomes a persuasive narrative of national confidence and talent.…

A Diplomatic Forum for Creative Equity Within the glass-paneled headquarters of the United Nations Development Programme in Brazzaville, the Mwassi Festival dedicated an afternoon to a subject that resonates far beyond the projection room: the gendered architecture of African film industries. Delegates from the Republic of Congo, neighbouring Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo joined United Nations officials and artists from diverse disciplines on 27 August for a panel entitled “Gender Dynamics and Cinematic Creation in African Contexts”. Opening the discussion, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Henry-René Diouf framed the event in developmental terms, insisting that the pursuit of gender…

A state honour that resonates beyond protocol When President Denis Sassou Nguesso conferred the insignia of Chevalier of the National Order of Merit upon Mariusca Moukengue on 15 August, during the sixty-fifth anniversary celebrations of Congolese independence, the ritual transcended ceremonial splendour. It signalled an institutional recognition of slam poetry as a legitimate vector of national identity. Government communiqués framed the decoration as a salute to “creative perseverance” and to “the exemplary civic engagement of the artist” (Les Dépêches de Brazzaville). In a region where traditional and contemporary art forms frequently vie for public attention, the gesture situates slam within…

African Heritage Diplomacy Intensifies Ever since the wave of decolonisation, African capitals have pursued the return of cultural artefacts removed during colonial rule. In forums from Addis Ababa to New York, the issue has matured from a moral appeal into a structured diplomatic dossier that engages ministries of culture, foreign affairs and finance alike. The debate no longer pivots solely on notions of historical grievance; it is now tied to soft-power, nation-branding and the economics of cultural tourism. Brazzaville, like many African seats of government, recognises that a restored heritage has the potential to reinforce national identity while stimulating the…

Social Fabric and Child Welfare in Pointe-Noire When schools across the Republic of the Congo ring the final bell in late July, educators, parents and municipal officials share a common concern: ensuring that holiday freedom does not drift into idleness or unsafe pastimes. In recent years, Pointe-Noire has multiplied programmes that strengthen the social fabric around children, from the Ministry of Social Affairs’ neighbourhood sports camps to UNICEF-supported reading clubs. Against this backdrop, the Association of Young Mothers of Congo, chaired by entrepreneur and philanthropist Michaelle Moutouari Tchicamboud, inaugurated a seasonal amusement park on 23 August inside the grounds of…