Benjamin Bounkoulou (born 25 September 1942"Bounkoulou Benjamin", ''Congo Brazzaville: Les Hommes de Pouvoir'', number 1
Africa Intelligence
29 October 2002 .) is a

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

lese politician who served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 1992 to 1995 under President

Pascal Lissouba Pascal Lissouba (15 November 1931 – 24 August 2020) was a Congolese politician who was the first democratically elected President of the Republic of the Congo and served from 31 August 1992 until 25 October 1997. He was overthrown by the form ...

. He has been President of the Union for the Republic (UR), a political party, since 1995. Bounkoulou was Second Vice-President of the National Transitional Council from 1998 to 2002 and First Vice-President of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 2002 to 2011. After failing to win re-election to the Senate in 2011, he was instead elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

in 2012 and served as President of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Commission.

Diplomatic career

Bounkoulou was born in Kinkengué, located in southern Congo. From 1967 to 1975, he worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; at the ministry, he held the post of Director of Political Affairs. Bounkoulou was Diplomatic Adviser to President

Marien Ngouabi Marien Ngouabi (or N'Gouabi) (December 31, 1938 – March 18, 1977) was the third President of the Republic of the Congo from January 1, 1969, to March 18, 1977. Biography Origins Marien Ngouabi was born in 1938 at the village of Ombellé, Cu ...

from 1975 to 1976. Subsequently, he was Congo's Ambassador to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

from 1976 to 1979 and was Ambassador to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

from 1978 to 1983. He served as Ambassador to the

Organization of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

from 1983 to 1987. On 19 November 1987, replacing Stanislas Batchi, Bounkoulou was appointed as Congo-Brazzaville's Ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

; he presented his credentials on 21 December 1987. He was replaced by Roger Issombo in May 1990.

Political career

In 1990, Bounkoulou returned to Congo as Director-General of the Congolese Maritime Transport Company (''Socotram'') and remained in that post for two years.

won the August 1992 presidential election, and after taking office he appointed Bounkoulou to the government as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, and Hydrocarbons in September 1992. Bounkoulou left the government in 1995. When the Union for the Republic (UR) was founded in March 1995, Bounkoulou became its President, and he has led the party since then. The UR was established by members of parliament from

Bouenza Region Bouenza (can also be written as ''Buenza'') is a department of the Republic of the Congo in the southern part of the country. It borders the departments of Lékoumou, Niari, and Pool, and internationally, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ...

who left the ruling

Pan-African Union for Social Democracy The Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (french: Union panafricaine pour la démocratie sociale, UPADS) is a political party in the Republic of the Congo headed by Pascal Lissouba, who was President from 1992 to 1997. It has been the country' ...

(UPADS)John F. Clark, "Congo: Transition and the Struggle to Consolidate", in ''Political Reform in Francophone Africa'' (1997), ed. John F. Clark and David E. Gardinier, pages 70–75.Joachim Emmanuel Goma-Thethet, "Alliances in the political and electoral process in the Republic of Congo 1991–97", in ''Liberal Democracy and Its Critics in Africa: Political Dysfunction and the Struggle for Social Progress'' (2005), ed. Tukumbi Lumumba-Kasongo, Zed Books, page 117. and another party in January 1995, complaining of government favoritism towards people from

Niari Region Niari (can also be written as ''Niadi'') is a department of the Republic of the Congo in the western part of the country. It borders the departments of Bouenza, Kouilou, and Lékoumou, and internationally, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of th ...

, Lékoumou Region, and another part of Bouenza Region. In the short-lived government of Prime Minister

Bernard Kolelas Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

, appointed in September 1997 during the 1997 civil war, Bounkoulou was appointed as Minister of Privatisation, in charge of the ''Inspection générale d'Etat''. That government lasted only one month; rebels loyal to

Denis Sassou Nguesso Denis Sassou Nguesso (born 23 November 1943) is a Congolese politician and former military officer. He became president of the Republic of the Congo in 1997. He served a previous term as president from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as p ...

captured

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

and

Pointe-Noire Pointe-Noire (; kg, Njinji, french: Ndjindji with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department since 2004. Before t ...

on 14–15 October 1997, thereby ousting Lissouba and Kolelas.Rémy Bazenguissa-Ganga, "The Spread of Political Violence in Congo-Brazzaville", in ''African Affairs'', volume 98, number 390, January 1999, pages 389–411. Bounkoulou was subsequently included as one of the 75 members of the National Transitional Council (CNT), which served as a transitional legislature from 1998 to 2002, and he was designated as Second Vice-President of the CNT. Standing as a UR candidate, Bounkoulou was elected as a Senator from Bouenza Region in the 2002 Senate election, at the end of the transitional period. Subsequently, he was elected as First Vice-President of the Senate on 10 August 2002. Bounkoulou was additionally designated as the head of the Senate's Congo–

friendship group on 13 December 2004. In the October 2005 Senate election, Bounkoulou was re-elected to the Senate as a UR candidate in Bouenza Region. He received the votes of 64 electors and was tied for the highest total of any of the candidates in Bouenza. At an extraordinary general assembly of the UR, held in Nkayi on 18 December 2006, Bounkoulou was unanimously re-elected as President of the UR. He was re-elected as First Vice-President of the Senate on 12 August 2008. He headed the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

's electoral observer mission for

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

's September 2008 parliamentary election; according to Bounkoulou, the vote was "transparent, free and ... in line with the African Union's standards", and he called for the results to be respected. Shortly before the July 2009 presidential election, Bounkoulou stressed the importance of having a peaceful election and urged the people to behave in a responsible and civic manner so that the election would be an example to Africa and the world. He headed the African Union's observer mission for the October 2009 Tunisian election and expressed approval of the election, saying that voters were not pressured to vote for President

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...

. Seeking another term in the Senate in the October 2011 Senate election, Bounkoulou failed to win a seat."Congo - Sénatoriales: écrasante victoire sans surprise de la majorité"
, Agence France-Presse, 10 October 2011 . His defeat was deemed "the only real surprise" in the results, which saw Sassou Nguesso's

Congolese Labour Party The Congolese Party of Labour (french: Parti congolais du travail, PCT) is the ruling party of the Republic of the Congo. Founded in 1969 by Marien Ngouabi, it was originally a pro-Soviet, Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist vanguard party w ...

(PCT) and other pro-government parties retaining an overwhelming majority in the Senate. Less than a year after losing his Senate seat, Bounkoulou sought election to the

instead, standing as the UR candidate in Boko-Songho constituency, located in Bouenza Region, in the July–August 2012 parliamentary election.Pascal Azad Doko
"Benjamin Bounkoulou, élu député à Boko-Songho : «Nous avons remporté une victoire complète, sans tricherie»"
''La Semaine Africaine'', 14 August 2012 . In the first round, he placed second with 28.45% of the vote, slightly behind Joseph Dadhié Yedikissa of the opposition UPADS, who received 30.13%. However, Bounkoulou won the seat in a second round of voting against Yedikissa, receiving 55.10% of the vote; he described the outcome as "a complete victory, without cheating", although Yedikissa subsequently alleged fraud. Bounkoulou was the only UR candidate to win a seat in the National Assembly; the party had held two seats in the previous legislature. On 19 September 2012, Bounkoulou was designated as President of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Commission.Roger Ngombé
"Assemblée nationale - Sept commissions permanentes sont mises en place"
''Les Dépêches de Brazzaville'', number 1,580, 20 September 2012, page 2 .

References