Joachim Yhombi-Opango

Jacques Joachim Yhombi Opango (born 1939Rémy Bazenguissa-Ganga, "Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique" (1997), Karthala Editions, page 447.] ) is a Congolese political figure. He was an army officer who became his country's first general and served as Head of State of Congo from 1977 to 1979. He currently leads the Rally for Democracy and Development (RDD) political party and served as Prime Minister from 1993 to 1996.

Yhombi-Opango was born in Fort Rousset (now Owando) in Cuvette Region, in the north of the Congo. Under President Marien Ngouabi, Yhombi-Opango was Army Chief of Staff (with the rank of Major); he was suspended from that position on July 30 1970, but subsequently restored to it. ["Jul 1971 - Reorganization of Council of State. - Communist Chinese Aid. - Alleged Anti-Government Plots.", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 17, July, 1971 Congo, Page 24724.] He was a member of the ruling Congolese Labour Party (PCT) and was associated with the party's right wing. Leftist elements in the PCT claimed in a broadcast on Voice of the Revolution radio on February 22 1972 that Yhombi-Opango was trying to take power in a rightist coup and that he had ordered the arrest of members of the PCT Political Bureau. This claim was part of an unsuccessful leftist coup attempt led by Lieutenant Ange Diawara. ["Mar 1972 - Abortive Left-wing Coup.", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 18, March, 1972 Congo, Page 25147.] Yhombi-Opango became a member of the Central Committee of the PCT in 1972. He was then promoted to the rank of Colonel and became a member of the PCT's Political Bureau in January 1973. He served as Secretary-General of the Council of State until being moved to the post of Council of State delegate in charge of Defence on November 9 1974. [ [http://www.keesings.com/search?kssp_selected_tab=article&kssp_a_id=26964n01cog "Feb 1975 - CONGO"] , Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 21, February, 1975 Congo, Page 26964.]

Following the assassination of Ngouabi in March 1977, Yhombi-Opango became Head of State. He served in office for nearly two years until being forced to resign in February 1979.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 64–65.] Accused of attempting to form a "rightist faction" in the PCT, he was subsequently held in detention for several years by his successor, President Denis Sassou Nguesso."Jun 1986 - Release of former President-Party and Cabinet changes-Economic problems-Census", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 32, June, 1986 Congo, Page 34406.] In addition to being placed under house arrest, he was expelled from the PCT and his property was confiscated in 1979; furthermore, he was demoted from the rank of general to that of private, according to an announcement on October 20 1979. [ [http://www.keesings.com/search?kssp_selected_tab=article&kssp_a_id=30059n01cog "Jan 1980 - General Elections and Referendum on New Constitution - Earlier Appointment of New Council of Ministers - Other Developments"] , Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 26, January, 1980 Congo, Page 30059.] Sassou Nguesso announced Yhombi-Opango's release when the former was sworn in for a second term as President on November 10 1984, [http://afriquepluriel.ruwenzori.net/congo-c.htm "LE CONGO DE 1980 A 1997"] , afriquepluriel.ruwenzori.net fr icon.] citing "the interest of national unity and peace".

In July 1987, 20 officers were arrested for allegedly plotting a coup, and a commission investigating the plot implicated Yhombi-Opango, along with Captain Pierre Anga. [http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR220011999?open "Republic of Congo: An old generation of leaders in new carnage"] , Amnesty International, March 25, 1999.] In September 1987, Yhombi-Opango was arrested in connection with this plot. Sassou Nguesso announced his release, along with all other political prisoners, on August 14 1990, in a move marking the 30th anniversary of Congolese independence. ["ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS FREED", "St. Paul Pioneer Press" (nl.newsbank.com), August 15, 1990.] At the February–June 1991 National Conference, some delegates accused Yhombi-Opango and Sassou Nguesso of complicity in Ngouabi's assassination. [Kenneth B. Noble, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFD6153AF936A15755C0A967958260 "Congo Political Conference Gives Africa a Democratic Model"] , "The New York Times", June 25, 1991.]

Afterwards, Yhombi-Opango was the candidate of the Rally for Democracy and Development (RDD) in the August 1992 presidential election, taking sixth place with 3.49% of the vote. [Xavier Bienvenu Kitsimbou, [http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/16/84/67/PDF/THESE.pdf "LA DEMOCRATIE ET LES REALITES ETHNIQUES AU CONGO"] , University of Nancy II, October 26, 2001, pages 104–105 fr icon.] In his native Cuvette Region, he placed second, with 27% of the vote, behind Sassou Nguesso.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, page 71.] He allied with President Pascal Lissouba and Lissouba's party, the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS), in the first round of the 1993 parliamentary election, held in May, and after the election Lissouba appointed him as Prime Minister on June 23 1993. The opposition contested the results, however, and a severe political dispute erupted, with the opposition setting up a rival government.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, pages 273–274.] Yhombi-Opango resigned on January 13 1995 so that Lissouba would have more freedom to consult other parties; he was promptly reappointed as Prime Minister, with a new government—including four members of the opposition Union for Democratic Renewal (URD)—being named on January 23. ["Jan 1995 - New Congo Cabinet", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 41, January, 1995 Congo, Page 40345.] He remained Prime Minister until he resigned on August 23 1996; Lissouba appointed Charles David Ganao to replace him on August 27. ["Aug 1996 - New Prime Minister", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 42, August, 1996 Congo, Page 41216.]

Sassou-Nguesso's visit to Owando, Yhombi-Opango's political stronghold, in May 1997 led to the outbreak of violence between his supporters and those of Yhombi-Opango. [ [http://www.fidh.org/rapports/congo.htm "ENTRE ARBITRAIRE ET IMPUNITE : LES DROITS DE L'HOMME AU CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE"] , Congolese Human Rights Observatory and International Federation of Human Rights (fidh.org), April 1998 fr icon.] Following this incident, a civil war broke out in June, leading to Lissouba's ouster in October 1997; Yhombi-Opango supported Lissouba during the war,"Political Parties of the World" (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkowski, pages 138–140.] serving as leader of the Presidential Majority, ["Congo: Lissouba "accepted" selection of prime minister from opposition", Africa No 1 radio (nl.newsbank.com), August 10, 1997.] and after Sassou-Nguesso's victory he fled into exile in Cote d'Ivoire and France.

In December 2001, Yhombi-Opango joined two other exiled politicians, Lissouba and Bernard Kolelas, in rejecting the electoral process begun under Sassou-Nguesso, saying that it was not transparent. ["Congo: Former president, premiers reject electoral process, call for dialogue", Radio France Internationale (nl.newsbank.com), December 12, 2001.] Along with Lissouba and Kolelas, he called for a passive boycott of the January 2002 constitutional referendum. ["Congo: Former premier calls for "passive" boycott of constitutional referendum", Radio France Internationale (nl.newsbank.com), January 15, 2002.]

In late December 2001, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1732822.stm "Congolese ex-leader guilty of treason"] , BBC News, December 29, 2001.] Yhombi-Opango was sentenced "in absentia" to 20 years of hard labor for embezzlement. [http://www.congoplus.info/article_congoplus-3907.html "L'ex-président Yhombi-Opango de retour au Congo après dix ans d'exil"] , AFP (Congoplus.info), August 10, 2007 fr icon.] Also convicted in this trial were Lissouba (who received a 30-year sentence) and three other former members of the government (former Prime Minister Claude Antoine da Costa, former Minister of Finance Guila Mougounga Nkombo, and former Minister of Oil Benoit Koukebene). The charge of embezzlement was based on an accusation that Lissouba, Yhombi-Opango, and the others made a corrupt deal with Occidental Petroleum to sell oil to the company for 150 million US dollars in 1993; the sum was said to amount to less than a fourth of the oil's actual value. The money from this deal was allegedly never placed in the Treasury; instead, part of the money was said to have been placed in a private bank account in Belgium, while the remainder was said to have been used for electoral campaigning. [http://www.afrik.com/article3824.html "Travaux forcés pour Pascal Lissouba"] , Afrik.com, December 29 2001 fr icon.] Claudine Munari, who had been Director of the Cabinet, said in defense of the accused that there was no alternative to the deal and that the money was actually used to pay wage arrears and organize the 1993 parliamentary election. The accused were also charged with misappropriating public funds, but this charge did not result in conviction.

An amnesty for Yhombi-Opango was approved by the Congolese Council of Ministers on May 18, 2007. [ [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/pays/congo_brazza/article_depeche.asp?art_cle=XIN70027lancielliva0 "L'ancien président Joachim Youmby Opango amnistié par Brazzaville"] , Xinhua ("Jeuneafrique.com"), May 19, 2007 fr icon.] He returned to the Congo on August 10 2007, and a thousand of his supporters were present to welcome him.

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