Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas (6 August 1959Roger Ngombé
"Portrait de Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas, nouveau ministre de la Pêche maritime et continentale, chargé de l'aquaculture"
''

Les Dépêches de Brazzaville ''Les Dépêches de Brazzaville'' is a French-language daily newspaper in the Republic of the Congo.Dominique Auzias, Jean-Paul Labourdette, ''Congo Brazzaville'', Paris: Le Petit Futé, 2014, p. 6/ref> It is published by ADIAC, owned by Jean-Pa ...

'', 7 January 2008 . – 22 March 2021) was a

Congolese Congolese or Kongolese may refer to: African peoples * Congolese people (disambiguation) * Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...

politician. Following the death of his father,

Bernard Kolélas Bernard Bakana Kolélas (12 June 1933Alain Kounzilat, , Kimpwanza (planeteafrique.com) . – 13 November 2009Thierry Noungou"Parlement - Bernard Bakana Kolélas décédé ce 13 novembre à Paris", ''Les Dépêches de Brazzaville'', 13 November ...

, he succeeded him as Interim President of the

Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development The Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development (; MCDDI) is a Liberalism, liberal political party in the Republic of the Congo, led by Bernard Kolélas until his death in 2009. His son, Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas, has led the party ...

(MCDDI), one of Congo-Brazzaville's main political parties, in 2010. He served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of Marine and Inland Fishing from 2007 to 2009 and as Minister of the Civil Service from 2009 to 2015. After placing a distant second in the 2016 parliamentary election, he founded a new party, the Union of Humanist Democrats-Yuki, in 2017.

Early life and education

Kolélas was born in

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

in 1959; his parents were

and his wife Jacqueline."Brice-Parfait Kolélas : « Nous tenons à ce que Maman soit inhumée dans un climat de paix, de tranquillité, d’entente »"
''Les Dépêches de Brazzaville'', 10 October 2005 . He studied economics, obtaining a degree from Brazzaville's

Marien Ngouabi University Marien Ngouabi University (French: ''Université Marien Ngouabi'', UMNG) is the only state-funded university in the Republic of the Congo. It is located in the nation's capital Brazzaville. History The University of Brazzaville was founded on 4 D ...

in 1983. Afterward, he continued his studies in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He received a degree in economics from the

University of Besançon The Marie and Louis Pasteur University (UMLP), formerly known as University of Franche-Comté, is a pluridisciplinary public French university located in Besançon, Franche-Comté, with decentralized campuses in Belfort, Montbéliard, Vesoul and ...

in 1985 and a degree in international transport from the

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Mìlhüsa'' ; , meaning "Mill (grinding), mill house") is a France, French city of the European Collectivity of Alsace (Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region of France). It is near the Fran ...

International Institute of Transport in 1987. Ultimately he obtained a doctorate degree in industrial economics, specializing in business strategy, from the

University of Dijon A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

in 1993.

Political background and government appointment

Kolélas' father, Bernard Kolélas, was one of Congo-Brazzaville's main political leaders during the 1990s. During the 1997 civil war, Bernard Kolélas served briefly as Prime Minister before he and his old rival, 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 his pred ...

, were ousted by rebel forces loyal to

Denis Sassou Nguesso Denis Sassou Nguesso (born 23 November 1943) is a Congolese politician and former military officer who has served as president of the Republic of the Congo since 1997. He also previously served as president from 1979 to 1992. Sassou Nguesso he ...

in October 1997. He and Lissouba fled into exile, but some fighting continued. On 7 December 1997, Kolélas sent his son to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

to acquire weapons that Lissouba had previously ordered from Ebar Management & Trading Ltd., a company that sold arms to the government during the civil war. Brice Parfait Kolélas was his father's transportation adviser around that time and participated in negotiations. In Congo-Brazzaville, Bernard Kolélas was convicted of war crimes ''in absentia'' and sentenced to death. After eight years in exile, he was allowed to return in October 2005 so that he could participate in the funeral of his wife, Jacqueline. The government then decided to allow him to remain in Congo-Brazzaville and participate in the nation's political life. 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 repr ...

unanimously approved an amnesty for Bernard Kolélas in November 2005. The MCDDI, led by Bernard Kolélas, signed an electoral alliance with Sassou Nguesso's Congolese Labor Party (PCT) in April 2007."Formation d'un nouveau gouvernement au Congo"
Panapress, 31 December 2007 . In the June 2007 parliamentary election, Brice Parfait Kolélas stood as the MCDDI candidate in

Kinkala Kinkala is a town and a commune located in southeastern Republic of the Congo. It is the capital city of Kinkala District and the Pool Department Pool () is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department of the Republic of the Congo ...

constituency, located in the

Pool Region Pool () is a department of the Republic of the Congo in the southeastern part of the country. It borders the departments of Bouenza, Lékoumou, and Plateaux. Internationally, it borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It also surrounds t ...

."Elections législatives : les 44 élus du premier tour"
''Les Dépêches de Brazzaville'', 2 July 2007 . The Pool Region was traditionally dominated by the MCDDI, and Kolélas easily won the Kinkala seat in the first round, receiving 77.46% of the vote. After the election, he was appointed to the government as Minister of Marine and Inland Fishing and Aquaculture on 30 December 2007. At the MCDDI's First Convention, held in Brazzaville on 24–25 May 2008, Brice Parfait Kolélas was designated as the Coordinator of the MCDDI National Executive Bureau and National Secretary for Development Strategies. In that capacity, he was considered the second ranking member of the party, after his father. However, his father was by that point an elderly man in apparently declining health (although present, he failed to even give the closing speech at the convention), and thus Brice Parfait Kolélas was effectively being designated as the MCDDI's ''de facto'' leader. It also seemed evident that he was being positioned to succeed his father, and that arrangement was contrasted with the situation in the Union for Democracy and the Republic (UDR–Mwinda), another political party.

André Milongo André Ntsatouabantou Milongo (20 October 1935
, lechoc.info . – 23 July 2007) was a

< ...

, the President of the UDR–Mwinda, had died in 2007 without taking the necessary steps to secure his son's succession to the party leadership; the son, Stéphane Milongo, proved unable to obtain the party leadership on his own. It was suspected that the example of the Milongos might have influenced Bernard Kolélas to promote his son to the top of the party. Brice Parfait Kolélas also became the Coordinator of the Conference of African Humanist Democrats (''Conférence des démocrates humanistes africains'', CODEHA), a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

,"De Brazzaville à Libreville"
''Jeune Afrique'', 27 July 2009 .Thierry Noungou
"Le MCDDI et les partis frères du continent lancent la Conférence des démocrates humanistes africains"
''Les Dépêches de Brazzaville'', 20 April 2010 . when it was launched at the initiative of the MCDDI and various other African political parties on 19 April 2009. CODEHA sent electoral observer missions to monitor the July 2009 presidential election in Congo-Brazzaville as well as the August 2009 presidential election in Gabon.

2009 presidential campaign and MCDDI leadership

At the time of the July 2009 presidential election, Brice Parfait Kolélas was the Deputy National Director of President Sassou Nguesso's re-election campaign. Along with other major figures who had formerly opposed Sassou Nguesso, Kolélas was present for the launch of the campaign at a large rally held in

in June 2009. On that occasion, he read a message on behalf of his father, in which the latter endorsed Sassou Nguesso. After winning re-election, Sassou Nguesso promoted Kolélas to the post of Minister of the Civil Service and State Reform on 15 September 2009. Bernard Kolélas died at the age of 76 on 13 November 2009. Brice Parfait Kolélas was considered an obvious candidate to succeed him in the party leadership, although reports suggested that feelings within the party were not unanimous on the matter, with some members supporting an older figure,

Bernard Tchibambelela Mpaki Bernard (14 June 1946 – 21 May 2025) was a Congolese politician who served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of Fishing and Aquaculture from 2012 to 2016. A member of the Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Dev ...

.Thierry Noungou
"Le Mouvement congolais pour la démocratie et le développement intégral au centre de tous les regards"
''Les Dépêches de Brazzaville'', 6 January 2010 . The MCDDI Executive Bureau met on 23 January 2010 and decided that Kolélas would serve as Interim President of the MCDDI, in addition to his role as Coordinator of the Executive Bureau, until a party congress could be held. In its previous 20 years of existence under Bernard Kolélas, the MCDDI had never held a congress. The eighth conference of African civil service ministers was held in Brazzaville in July 2013, and Kolélas was elected as president of the conference. Speaking to MCDDI supporters in June 2014, Kolélas sharply criticized the party's ally, the

Congolese Party of Labour The Congolese Party of Labour (, PCT) is the ruling party of the Republic of the Congo. Founded in 1969 by Marien Ngouabi, it was originally a pro-Soviet, Marxist–Leninist vanguard party which founded the People's Republic of the Congo. It to ...

(PCT) for failing to fulfill its promises. He complained that the MCDDI had been promised a variety of posts—"ambassadors, prefects, mayors and many other things"—but that the PCT had not followed through. Nevertheless he said that he would not terminate the alliance, as it was "signed on the blood of our ancestors". At an extraordinary party congress on 3–4 April 2015, Kolélas was designated as the MCDDI's candidate for the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

. He came out in opposition to changing the constitution to allow Sassou Nguesso to run for another term and participated in an opposition dialogue, which was held to express objections to constitutional change, in July 2015. Apparently as a consequence, he was dismissed from the government on 10 August 2015. At the same time, his brother, Euloge Landry Kolélas, was appointed to the government as Minister of Trade. UDH-YUKI 2020

Kolélas placed second in the 2016 presidential election, with 15% of the vote, and Sassou Nguesso was re-elected. Sidelined within the MCDDI, Kolélas founded a new party, the Union of Humanist Democrats ( UDH-YUKI), on 19 March 2017. According to Kolélas, the new party had emerged from the "ashes" of the MCDDI. On 1 February 2021, he was invested as a candidate for the presidential election on 17 and 21 March 2021 by his political party, the Union of Humanist Democrats-YUKI (UDH-YUKI).

Personal life

Kolélas' mother, Jacqueline, died on 29 September 2005. In October 2005, he released a statement on behalf of the family, calling on everyone to respect the family's grief and insisting "that ''Maman'' is buried in a climate of peace, tranquility, understanding and brotherly love." As of 2008, Kolélas was married and had three children. On the eve of the March 2021 presidential election, Kolélas was evacuated to

after contracting

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and hospitalized. He said he was "fighting death". He died of COVID-19 complications on 22 March 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolelas, Guy Brice Parfait 1959 births 2021 deaths Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development politicians Government ministers of the Republic of the Congo Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in France Marien Ngouabi University alumni People from Brazzaville