Charles Richard Mondjo (born 28 January 1954) is a Congolese military officer who has served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of Defense since 2012. Previously he was Chief of Staff of the Congolese Armed Forces from 2002 to 2012.Bruno Okokana
"Gouvernement : deux chefs militaires de haut rang nommés ministres"
''Les Dépêches de Brazzaville'', 26 September 2012 .

Military career

An ethnic

Mbochi The Mbochi (or M'Boshi) are a Bantu ethnic group in Central Africa. Their language originates from the regions of the African Great Lakes where they began, after a long migration from the east to the centre, over the years, until 1850. This centr ...

John F. Clark and Samuel Decalo, ''Historical Dictionary of Republic of the Congo'', fourth edition (2012), Scarecrow Press, pages 289–290. and the son of diplomat

Nicolas Mondjo Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–17 ...

, Charles Richard Mondjo was born at

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 ...

in 1954, attending school in

Cuvette Department Cuvette is a department of the Republic of the Congo in the central part of the country. It borders the departments of Cuvette-Ouest, Likouala, Plateaux, and Sangha, and internationally, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon. The capi ...

and Brazzaville. Subsequently he attended military preparatory school. He received training at a military school in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

from 1976 to 1978 and at a military school in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

from 1982 to 1986."Biographie du nouveau chef d’Etat-major général des Forces armées congolaises"
''Les Dépêches de Brazzaville'', 21 January 2003 . Back in Congo-Brazzaville, Mondjo served as an army officer, and he was Director of Lessons and Studies at the Marien Ngouabi Military Academy in Brazzaville from 1987 to 1993. He sided with rebel leader

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 ...

during the June–October 1997 civil war; the war ended with Sassou Nguesso regaining power and ousting President Pascal Lissouba. In December 1997, Mondjo was appointed as Commander of Military Zone 1, which included the country's economic capital,

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 ...

; he remained in that post for five years. He was appointed as Chief of Staff of the Congolese Armed Forces on 20 December 2002, and he was promoted to the rank of major-general (''général de division''). After serving nearly ten years as Chief of Staff, Mondjo was appointed to the government as Minister at the Presidency for National Defense on 25 September 2012. He was officially succeeded as Chief of Staff by Major-General

Guy Blanchard Okoï Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unincorpo ...

at a ceremony on 7 November 2012. Mondjo met with French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Brazzaville on 11 February 2014 for a discussion about instability in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

. After Sassou Nguesso's victory in the March 2016 presidential election, he retained Mondjo in his post as Minister of National Defense on 30 April 2016."Équipe gouvernementale de la Nouvelle République"
, ADIAC, 1 May 2016 .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mondjo, Charles Richard 1954 births Living people People from Brazzaville Defense ministers of the Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo military personnel