Pierre Ngolo

Pierre Ngolo (born 27 June 1954) is a Congolese politician who has been Secretary-General of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) since August 2011. He was First Secretary of the National Assembly of Congo-Brazzaville from 2002 to 2012.[1]

Political career

Ngolo was born at Etoro, located in the Gamboma District of Plateaux Region.[1] As a young man, he was active in the Congolese Socialist Youth Union, the PCT's youth wing. He attended the Marien Ngouabi University in Brazzaville, where he studied philosophy, and subsequently he continued his studies at Reims. Back in Congo-Brazzaville, he worked as a philosophy teacher.[2]

Ngolo was 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 First Secretary of the CNT.[3] In the May–June 2002 parliamentary election, he was elected to the National Assembly as the PCT candidate in Ongogni constituency,[4][5] winning the seat in the first round with 99.69% of the vote.[4] After the election, he was chosen as First Secretary of the National Assembly on 10 August 2002.[6] Ngolo was a delegate to the African Parliamentary Union's 27th conference, held at Algiers in November–December 2004;[1][7] he headed Congo-Brazzaville's national group[1][2][7] and was elected by the conference delegates as Rapporteur of the APU's Executive Bureau.[1][7]

In the June–August 2007 parliamentary election, Jean-Claude Gakosso replaced Ngolo as the PCT candidate in Ongogni; although there were rumors of rivalry between the two, Gakosso and Ngollo appeared together when Gakosso announced his candidacy, and Ngolo instead stood as the PCT candidate in the Ouenzé I constituency of Brazzaville.[8] Ngolo won the Ouenzé I seat in the first round with 54.30% of the vote,[9] and he was subsequently re-elected as First Secretary of the National Assembly on 4 September 2007,[1][10] receiving 122 votes from the 129 deputies who were present.[10] He was additionally assigned responsibility for the National Assembly's relations with the African Parliamentary Union.[11]

In light of the fact that Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso had been designated as President of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC), Ngolo was correspondingly elected as President of the CEMAC Inter-Parliamentary Commission at a session held in Malabo on 17–19 February 2010.[12]

In early 2011, Ngolo was designated as First Rapporteur of the Preparatory Committee for the PCT's Sixth Extraordinary Congress.[13][14] At the Sixth Extraordinary Congress, held in Brazzaville in July 2011, Ngolo was elected as Secretary-General of the PCT.[15][16][17] His election as Secretary-General was considered surprising.[17][18] It had been widely expected that the post would go to a more prominent figure, but Sassou Nguesso chose Ngolo, reportedly viewing him as a skilled organizer and as relatively uncontroversial. He was reportedly viewed as a "man of compromise": "an open conservative, anxious to preserve the identity of the party, while understanding the need for change".[18]

A month after his election, Ngolo officially took office as PCT Secretary-General on 25 August 2011, succeeding Interim Secretary-General Isidore Mvouba.[19]

Ngolo's constituency, the first constituency of Ouenzé, was among those areas of Brazzaville affected by the March 2012 explosions at a munitions dump, which killed hundreds of people. As a consequence, voting was not held in his constituency, as well as two other constituencies, at the time of the July–August 2012 parliamentary election. On 17 August 2012, the parliamentary terms of Ngolo and the other two deputies were extended by the Constitutional Court until such time as voting could be held. The ruling was in line with a constitutional provision allowing for such extensions when voting could not be properly held due to "exceptionally serious circumstances".[20][21]

Under Ngolo's leadership, the PCT won a parliamentary majority in the 2012 election, the first time it had done so since the introduction of multiparty politics. Speaking to Jeune Afrique after the election, he argued that the state of the party had improved greatly in the preceding year. Prior to his election as Secretary-General, the party was suffering from "lethargy", according to Ngolo: "the party did not work, the rules were not observed". He also dismissed allegations of fraud from the opposition and said that the PCT was committed to "democratic pluralism". Reflecting on the events of the early 1990s, he credited the PCT and Denis Sassou Nguesso with the transition to multiparty politics and democratic elections, emphasizing that Sassou Nguesso had stepped down after his 1992 electoral defeat and did not try to "cling to power".[2]

When the deputies met to elect the National Assembly's bureau for its new parliamentary term on 5 September 2012, Ngolo was not re-elected to his post as First Secretary of the National Assembly.[22] He was officially succeeded by Gabriel Valère Eteka Yemet, who had been elected to replace him, at a handover ceremony on 11 September 2012.[23] He continued to serve as a Deputy in the National Assembly, however. On 28 February 2014, he visited constituents in Ouenzé who were still suffering from the effects of the 2012 explosions, listening to their complaints about the lack of progress in reconstruction.[24]

He campaigned extensively to support the PCT's candidates in the September 2014 local elections, launching the campaign at Ouesso on 12 September and then going to Ongoni, Pointe-Noire, and Brazzaville. Afterward, other party leaders were sent out to campaign in the various departments while Ngolo focused on Brazzaville and Pool Department.[25]

On 10 October 2015, speaking at a large rally in support of the October 2015 constitutional referendum in Brazzaville, Ngolo declared that "this human tide simply wants to say that changing the constitution is the will of the people, and as such no one can stop it."[26] Although many in the opposition saw the referendum as merely a means of allowing Sassou Nguesso to remain in power, Ngolo argued that it was necessary to change the constitution "for the future of the country, to ensure peace and stability".[27]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Willy Mbossa and Roger Ngombé, "Qui sont les nouveaux membres du bureau de l'Assemblée nationale ?", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 8 September 2007 (French).
  2. 1 2 3 Tshitenge Lubabu, "Congo Brazzaville - Pierre Ngolo : le parti, tout le parti, rien que le parti", Jeune Afrique, 15 October 2012 (French).
  3. ↑ Calixte Baniafouna, La bataille de Brazzaville, 5 juin–15 octobre 1997 (2008), L'Harmattan, pages 196–197 (French).
  4. 1 2 "Elections législatives : les 51 élus du premier tour", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 5 June 2002 (French).
  5. ↑ Marchés tropicaux et méditerranéens, issues 2,943–2,955 (2002), page 1,241 (French).
  6. ↑ "Jean-Pierre Thystère-Tchikaya élu président de l’Assemblée nationale", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 10 August 2002 (French).
  7. 1 2 3 "Pierre Ngolo fait le point sur les assises de l’Union Parlementaire Africaine à Alger", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 21 December 2004 (French).
  8. ↑ "Législatives 2007. Jean Claude Gakosso annonce à Brazzaville sa candidature aux ressortissants du district d'Ongogni", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 6 June 2007 (French).
  9. ↑ "Elections législatives : les 44 élus du premier tour", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 2 July 2007 (French).
  10. 1 2 Cyr Armel Yabbat-Ngo, "Session inaugurale de la 12ème législature de l'Assemblée nationale: Un fidèle du président Sassou au perchoir", La Semaine Africaine, number 2,725, 7 September 2007, page 3 (French).
  11. ↑ Cyr Armel Yabbat-Ngo, "Rentrée parlementaire de la 12ème législature: Les bureaux des commissions permanentes ont été enfin élus", La Semaine Africaine, number 2,729, 21 September 2007, page 5 (French).
  12. ↑ Willy Mbossa and Tiras Andang, "Pierre Ngolo élu à la tête du Parlement de la Cémac", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 23 February 2010 (French).
  13. ↑ Roger Ngombé, "Les députés du PCT à l'Assemblée nationale favorables à la tenue du 6e congrès extraordinaire", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 15 April 2011 (French).
  14. ↑ Pascal-Azad Doko, "6ème congrès extraordinaire du P.c.t : Jean-Pierre Nonault à la tête de bureau de la coordination du comité préparatoire", La Semaine Africaine, 13 April 2011 (French).
  15. ↑ "À Brazzaville, le Parti congolais du travail à la recherche d'un second souffle", Jeune Afrique, 25 July 2011 (French).
  16. ↑ Roger Ngombé, "Vie des partis : Pierre Ngolo élu secrétaire général du Parti congolais du travail", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 26 July 2011 (French).
  17. 1 2 Joël Nsoni, "Denis Sassou Nguesso aux congressistes du P.c.t : «Les élections ne se gagnent pas dans les bureaux. Elles se gagnent sur le terrain»", La Semaine Africaine, 30 July 2011 (French).
  18. 1 2 "Congo : la surprise Pierre Ngolo", Jeune Afrique, 1 September 2011 (French).
  19. ↑ "Parti congolais du travail : Pierre Ngolo prend officiellement ses fonctions de secrétaire général", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 26 August 2011 (French).
  20. ↑ Roger Ngombé, "Assemblée nationale : les députés des zones sinistrées continuent de siéger", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 18 August 2012 (French).
  21. ↑ "Cour constitutionnelle : Prolongement du mandat de trois députés à Brazzaville", La Semaine Africaine, 21 August 2012 (French).
  22. ↑ Roger Ngombé, "Assemblée nationale : Justin Koumba reconduit à la présidence", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 5 September 2012 (French).
  23. ↑ Parfait Wilfried Douniama, "Assemblée nationale : Pierre Ngolo disposé à apporter son expérience à Gabriel Valère Eteka Yemet", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 11 September 2012 (French).
  24. ↑ Josiane Mambou Loukoula, "Reconstruction : les populations de Ouénzé s’impatientent", ADIAC, 1 March 2014 (French).
  25. ↑ Pascal Azad Doko, "Elections locales : Véritable marathon de Pierre Ngolo, pour soutenir les candidats du P.c.t", La Semaine Africaine, 23 September 2014 (French).
  26. ↑ "Supporters of Congo President Sassou Nguesso rally for referendum", Reuters, 10 October 2015.
  27. ↑ Peter Clottey, "Congo opposition to meet Western envoys", Voice of America, 21 October 2015.
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