Stéphane Maurice Bongho-Nouarra

Stéphane Maurice Bongho-Nouarra (June 6 1937 – October 7 2007) was Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo from September 1992 to December 1992. [http://www.planeteafrique.com/Acorem/Index.asp?affiche=News_Display.asp&articleid=1794&rub=Vitrine "Décès à Bruxelles de l’ancien Premier ministre Maurice Bongho Nouara"] , Planetafrique.com, October 9, 2007 fr icon.]

Bongho-Nourra was born in Ouésso in Sangha Region. He became Minister of Agriculture in January 1968Rémy Bazenguissa-Ganga, "Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique" (1997), Karthala Editions, page 112.] ["Apr 1968 - President Massemba-Debat takes over Premiership. - Cabinet Reshuffle. - Other Political Developments.", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 14, April, 1968 Congo, Page 22633.] and was subsequently appointed as Minister of Public Works, Housing, and Transport in the government named on January 1 1969. ["Jan 1969 - Major Ngouabi appointed Head of State. - New Government", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 15, January, 1969 Congo, Page 23148.] [Ganga, "Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique", page 150.] However, in August 1970 he was accused of complicity in an anti-government plot, and he was sentenced to ten years in prison. He was released in 1971 and went into exile in France. [Ganga, "Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique", page 427.]

Bongho-Nouarra was elected as the Second Vice-President of the 1991 National Convention, which marked the beginning of the transition to multiparty elections. [Ganga, "Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique", pages 384 and 427.] He was elected to the National Assembly from the Mbama constituency in Cuvette-Ouest Region in the 1992 parliamentary election. He was the leader of the Party for the Reconstruction and Development of the Congo (PRDC) [ [http://www.humanite.fr/1992-02-12_Articles_-PEKIN-PHNOM-PENH-HANOI "MYSTERE AU CONGO"] , "L'Humanite", February 12, 1992 fr icon.] and the coordinator of the National Alliance for Democracy (AND), [Jean-Pascal Daloz and Patrick Quantin, "Transitions démocratiques africaines: dynamiques et contraintes (1990-1994)" (1997), Karthala Editions, pages 164–165.] a coalition of parties that backed Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS) candidate Pascal Lissouba in the first round of the August 1992 presidential election. [ [http://www.congoplus.info/article_congoplus-3236.html "Législatives : comme si l'histoire du Congo se répétait !"] , Congoplus.info, May 15, 2007 fr icon.] Following Lissouba's victory, on September 2 1992 he named Bongho-Nouarra as Prime Minister. Bongho-Nouarra's government was named on September 7; [http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2071_92.htm IPU-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 39083.] 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.

After the opposition Union for Democratic Renewal (URD) seven-party alliance joined with the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) to form a parliamentary majority against UPADS, his government was defeated in a no-confidence vote on October 31 1992. ["Nov 1992 - Government crisis", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 38, November, 1992 Congo, Page 39179.] Lissouba dissolved the National Assembly on November 17."Dec 1992 - New government", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 38, December, 1992 Congo, Page 39227.] Although he wanted Bongho-Nouarra to remain in office until a new parliamentary election was held,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.] 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 to replace Bongho-Nouarra on December 6.

Bongho-Nouarra left the Congo at the time of the 1997 Civil War, but 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. This group was founded in Paris in October 2000. [Ousmane Sow, [http://www.jeuneafrique.com/jeune_afrique/article_jeune_afrique.asp?art_cle=LIN14113desexsyapua0 "Des exilés pressés de rentrer au pays"] , Jeuneafrique.com, November 14, 2000 fr icon.] Bongho-Nouarra lived in Brussels, Belgium 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".

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