Stéphane Maurice Bongho-Nouarra (June 6, 1937 – October 7, 2007) was a Congolese politician. He served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville during the late 1960s, and after a long period in exile, he returned and played an important role in the politics of the 1990s. Bongho-Nouarra was briefly Prime Minister of Congo-Brazzaville from September 1992 to December 1992."Décès à Bruxelles de l'ancien Premier ministre Maurice Bongho Nouara" Planetafrique.com, October 9, 2007 .
Early life and education
Bongho-Nourra was born in
Ouésso
Ouésso is a town in the northern Republic of the Congo, lying on the Sangha River and surrounded by rainforest. It is linked by ferry with Brazzaville and is known for the pygmy people who live nearby. It is the capital of the Sangha Region.
I ...
in
Sangha Region
Sangha is a department of the Republic of the Congo in the northern part of the country. It borders the departments of Cuvette, Cuvette-Ouest, and Likouala, and internationally, Cameroon, Gabon and the Central African Republic. The regional ca ...
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
Owando
Owando is a town in the central Republic of the Congo, lying on the Kouyou River. It is the capital of Cuvette Department and an autonomous commune. It is home to a market and has an airport.
It was formerly known as Fort-Rousset. It gained the ...
(then Fort Rousset) and received his certificate of elementary education on June 14, 1949. After attending high school, where he was sixth in his class, he entered military school in Brazzaville on October 1, 1951, remaining there until 1954. Subsequently, he studied in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
; after completing his education, he returned to Congo-Brazzaville in 1963.
Political career
Back in Congo, Bongho-Nouarra was head of the agricultural engineering subdivision in
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 ...
, then regional director of the first agricultural region. He became President of the
Junior Chamber International
Junior Chamber International, commonly referred to as JCI, is a non-profit international non-governmental organization of young people between and years old. It has members in about 124 countries, and regional or national organizations in mo ...
in Congo and was elected as Vice-President of the Junior Chamber International at its congress in
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
. He was also President of the Congolese Olympic Committee. After serving as President of the Economic and Social Council from 1964 to 1965, he was appointed as Secretary of State at the Presidency of the Republic, in charge of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Water, and Forests, by President
Alphonse Massamba-Débat
Alphonse Massamba-Débat (February 11, 1921 – March 25, 1977) was a political figure of the Republic of the Congo who led the country from 1963 until 1968 in a one-party system.
Biography Early life
He was born in the small village of Nkolo, Bo ...
in 1966.
Bongho-Nouarra became Minister of Agriculture in January 1968Rémy Bazenguissa-Ganga, ''Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique'' (1997), Karthala Editions, page 112. and was subsequently appointed as Minister of Public Works, Housing, and Transport in the government named on January 1, 1969. Soon afterwards, however, he was dismissed from the government by 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 ...
due to political differences of opinion. He instead took an administrative post at an agricultural school, but in August 1970 he was accused of complicity in an anti-government plot, and he was sentenced to ten years in prison.Bazenguissa-Ganga, ''Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique'', page 427. While in prison, he was tortured, and he was released in 1971 due to poor health. He went into exile in France, where he recovered his health and became a consultant to a number of French and Swiss companies. As a businessman, he returned to Congo-Brazzaville in 1977, but left under pressure and remained in exile in France until 1990.
Returning to Congo-Brazzaville with the introduction of multiparty politics in 1990, Bongho-Nouarra became Honorary President of the Party for the Reconstruction and Development of the Congo (PRDC). He was elected as the Second Vice-President of the 1991 National Conference, which marked the beginning of the transition to multiparty elections. In the 1992 parliamentary election, he was 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 ...
from the
Mbama constituency
Mbaama (''Lembaamba'') is a Bantu language spoken in the Bambama District ( Lekoumou Region) of the Republic of Congo and in Haut-Ogooué Province, south of Okondja, in Gabon by the Obamba people.
References
Bibliography
*
External li ...
in
Cuvette-Ouest Region
Cuvette-Ouest (or Western Cuvette) is a department of the Republic of the Congo in the western part of the country. Cuvette-Ouest is the least populated department in the country. It borders the departments of Cuvette and Sangha, and Gabon. The ...
. At that time, he was the National Coordinator of the
National Alliance for Democracy
Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn is a Zimbabwean political organisation, founded by Simba Makoni, Kudzai Mbudzi and Ibbo Mandaza.
Zimbabwean Presidential Election of 2008
Simba Makoni was the Mavambo candidate, finishing third with 8.3% of the vote in the ...
(AND),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 110–113. a coalition of parties that backed
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) candidate
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 ...
in the first round of the August 1992 presidential election. On August 11, 1992, Bongho-Nourra, acting as National Coordinator of the AND, and UPADS Secretary-General
Christophe Moukouéké Christophe may refer to:
People
* Christophe (given name), list of people with this name
* Christophe (singer) (1945–2020), French singer
* Cristophe (hairstylist) (born 1958), Belgian hairstylist
* Georges Colomb (1856–1945), French comic str ...
signed an agreement with
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) Secretary-General
Ambroise Noumazalaye
Ambroise Édouard Noumazalaye (September 23, 1933Rémy Bazenguissa-Ganga, ''Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique'' (1997), Karthala Editions, page 442.November 17, 2007IPU-PARLINE page on the 1992 parliamentary election "Sep 1992 - New Prime Minister and Cabinet", ''Keesing's Record of World Events'', volume 38, September 1992, Congo, page 39,083. according to Bongho-Nouarra, his government was a "war cabinet", and he promised an "all-out assault" aimed at solving Congo's problems. He also said that the members of his government were selected for their expertise rather than their political experience.
The PCT was unhappy with the small number of portfolios it received in Bongho-Nouarra's government.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 71–72. It joined with the opposition Union for Democratic Renewal (URD) seven-party alliance to form a parliamentary majority against UPADS, and consequently Bongho-Nouarra's government was defeated in a
no-confidence vote
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
on October 31, 1992; the AND deputies were not present for the vote, and it was conducted by a
show of hands
Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots/folk duo formed in 1986 by singer-songwriter Steve Knightley (guitars, mandolin, mandocello, cuatro) and composer and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer (vocals, guitars, violin, viola, mandolin, mandoc ...
. As a result of the vote, Bongho-Nouarra resigned on November 11 and Lissouba, rather than appoint a new prime minister from the opposition alliance, dissolved the National Assembly on November 17."Dec 1992 - New government", ''Keesing's Record of World Events'', volume 38, December 1992, Congo, page 39,227. Although he wanted Bongho-Nouarra to remain in office until a new parliamentary election was held, the opposition demanded that the National Assembly be restored and that Bongho-Nouarra's government resign; in a protest on November 30, three people were killed by security forces.I. William Zartman and Katharina R. Vogeli, "Prevention Gained and Prevention Lost: Collapse, Competition, and Coup in Congo", in ''Opportunities Missed, Opportunities Seized: Preventive Diplomacy in the Post-Cold War World'' (2000), ed. Bruce W. Jentleson, page 272. The army urged the appointment of a new government with a neutral prime minister and warned that it could stage a coup if the situation continued. An agreement was reached on December 3 to form a national unity government and Lissouba appointed
Claude Antoine Dacosta Claude Antoine Dacosta (1931 – 1 May 2007Obituary (in French)) was a May–June 1993 parliamentary election. He also continued to hold high-level posts during Lissouba's presidency, serving as Special Adviser to the President of the Republic, with the rank of Minister of State, as President of the Sociocultural Committee, and then as Minister of National Defense. He left Congo-Brazzaville at the time of the 1997 Civil War, but temporarily returned for a national dialogue in 1998. While in exile, he backed an exile group, the Patriotic Front for Dialogue and National Reconciliation (FPDRN), which called for peace and reconciliation and did not challenge the legitimacy of President
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 ...
. This group was founded in Paris in October 2000.Ousmane Sow "Des exilés pressés de rentrer au pays" ''Jeune Afrique'', November 14, 2000 . Bongho-Nouarra lived in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
in poor health for several years before he died there on October 7, 2007. On October 8, Sassou Nguesso called his death "a great loss". Bongho-Nouarra's body was returned to Congo-Brazzaville on October 22, and he was buried at a cemetery in Brazzaville on October 23.