COMMANDER MARIEN NGOUABI 1938-1977
Marion Ngouabi was born in 1938 at Ombelle, in Cuvette Department in Mboshi Province in what is popularly called, Congo-Brazaviile. In the vast land which was the French colonial Empire, stretching from present day Senegal into Darfur in Sudan and Southwards to the Congo river, there were two poles. One was Dakar for West Africa and the other was Brazaville for Central Africa. These two cities were the centres of learning for Francophone Africans. People from as far afield as Tchad and the Camerouns went to Brazaville for studies.
Ngouabi’s family was of humble origins. From 1947 to 1953 he attended primary school in Owando. In order to attend this school he had to daily wake at three in the morning and undertake many hours of travel to reach school in time. In 1953 he went to study at the Ecole des Enfants de Troupes de General Leclerc in Brazaville. It was here that Nguabi developed an interest in the precise sciences- mathematics, chemistry and physics. In 1957 Ngouabi was sent to military service in Bouar in present day Central African Republic. From there he went on to do military service in the Cameroun from 1958 to 1960. The period in Cameroun brought him face to face with the ferocity and brutality of colonial rule. French troops in certain parts of Africa had to implement policies of ‘pacification’ of the local people. Ngouabi was not indifferent to the atrocities he saw in Cameroun. It was in Cameroun that his ideas on the struggle of the African people were consolidated. From Cameroun he proceeded to the Ecole Militaire Preparatoire in Strasbourg in France, and then in 1961 he went on to the Ecole Inter-Armes at Saint-Cyr in France. Ngouabi returned to the Congo in 1962 as a Second Lieutenant and was stationed at the Point-Noire garrison. In 1963 he was promoted to Lieutenant.
The character of the man is explained by the fact that he was the Father of a big family. He was a social person with simplicity in his mode of living. He was decisive and of great personal courage. He had an exceptional ability to confront challenges and was fearless in action. Ngouabi was a patriot and a convinced Marxist. He was a person interested in others. He was known for his time keeping. He attended popular meeting and spoke his mind. Ngouabi was a militant, a defender of the popular interests of the Government and the individual. He loved sports, particularly football and parachuting. Whilst he was Head of State and President of the Republic he completed his studies at Doctorate level at the University of Brazaville .
To place him in Pan-African historical context, Ngouabi belonged to that generation of early post independence African nationalists. By early is meant, those that came soon after the first wave of self government. Many of these were either assassinated, as happened to Ngouabi and Lumumba, or were excluded from office by coup d’etat generated by western circles. After that wave we saw the leaders of compromise emerge, which is where we are today. Nowadays we do not see the Ngouabi types acceding to power. That type is seen-off in the Party structures.
In 1965 Ngouabi created the first battalion of paratroopers of the Republic of Congo. Known for his Leftist views, in April 1966 he was demoted to the rank of soldier second class when he refused to be posted again to Point Noire. Consequently the then President of Congo, Alphonse Massamba-Debat, had Ngouabi and Second Lieutenant Eyabo arrested on 29th July 1968. Ngouabi’s arrest provoked discontent among the military and on 31 July he was freed by soldiers.
The National Revolutionary Council (CNR), headed by Ngouabi, was created on 5 August 1968. Massamba-Debat, whose powers had been curtailed by the CNR, resigned on the 4 September and Prime minister Alfred Raould served as acting Head of State until December 31 1968, when the CNR formally became the country’s supreme authority and Ngouabi, as head of the CNR, assumed the Presidency at the age of 30 years. His presidential style was atypical. He was occasionally seen early in the morning jogging alone in the streets of Brazzaville. He was not the type to wear outstanding clothes, but dressed in pain kacki. Whilst President he attended science classes at the University, where he sat on the university benches.
Impressions of Ngouabi are of a man who found early his destiny. His philosophy guided his life providing his moral compass. Chance played little in his destiny. Rather hard work and consistent application are what made him the icon he remains. He did not seek glories on the international scene, but kept a low profile and got on with what had to be done at home. He did not waiver and power did not spoil him. As a student he was particularly interested in political economy and philosophy. President Ngouabi was able to live and die for an ideal. Perhaps in this Nyerere bears some resemblance.
During his first years in power Marien Ngouabi remodelled Congolese society based on the Soviet model. He changed the country’s name to the People’s Republic of the Congo, declaring the country a Marxist-Leninist state. He founded the Congolese Workers’ Party as the country’s sole legal political party. His political project met with some internal opposition from the politicised and educated elites in Brazzaville amongst others. There was an attempted coup to depose Ngouabi in February 1972. In the African states in general, often the former colonial power wields much influence behind the scenes. The Congo was no exception with France seeking to push Congo, to implement it’s wishes. France is believed to have been the motive force to depose Ngouabi.
Ngouabi was re-elected to his post as Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Congo Brazaville. He was sworn in as President of the country for another term on the 9 January 1975. In that same year he signed an economic aid pact with the Soviet Union.
On the international scene Ngouabi’s Administration consistently supported progressive movements in particular in Africa, in the Portuguese colonies and in Southern Africa under Apartheid. His Administration accorded total, disinterested, militant support to the struggle of the people of the world against colonialism, imperialism, neo-colonialism, apartheid and all forms of oppression, whether political, economic or cultural. In July 1973 Ngouabi visited the People’s Republic of China.
He was aware of the inherent weaknesses of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). It was expected to deliver African unity. Ngouabi considered the OAU ‘a necessary evil’. Congo was an enthusiastic member and active participant in that Pan-African body. He worked hard towards regional integration.
On the 18 March 1977 President Ngouabi was assassinated, at the
age of 39 years, by an alleged suicide commando. The persons accused of taking part in the plot were tried and some of them executed, including Massamba-Debat. A Military Committee of the Party was named to head an interim government with Colonel Joachim Yhombi-Opango to serve as Head of State. Ngouabi is interred at the Marien Ngouabi Mausoleum in Brazaville.
Marien Ngouabi is considered a venerated leader in Congo Brazaville and further afield. He personifies a certain Left intellectual tradition which we associate with Congo Brazaville, in some ways similar to that of the Dakar circles. In many ways he was an unusual Third World leader, in that he died young and is perceived as a honest leader, devoted to his country. Amongst Africa’s contemporary leaders there are few heroes. Ngouabi is one of the few.
He believed that the door to decolonisation from settler colonialism in Southern Africa passed through Angola. The MPLA was at some point headquartered in Brazaville. Ndilimani was facilitated by Congolese expertise. SWAPO had a vocational training centre in Loudima and it’s cadre attended the Party School in Brazaville. The late Ngouabi and Founding President Nujoma were comrades.
The Message of Condolence of the MPLA, following the assassination of Ngouabi is particularly poignant. It situates the man amongst the foremost strugglers for human progress. It ranks him amongst the NKrumahs, Murtala Mohameds and Lumumbas, cut don in the prime of their action by reaction. It is entirely appropriate at this time and place that we pay homage to the memory of Commander Marien Ngouabi.
B.F.Bankie
Windhoek, 17 March 2011
https://theblacklist.net/
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