Official Announcement of Presidential bid

My fellow Congolese citizens,
Distinguished guests,
Dear friends, knights of media, members of national and international press,

It is here, in South Africa, symbol of the freedom of oppressed people that I choose to express myself to you for an open address, ringing like a cathedral bell, at a time when all scattered Congolese citizens all over the world, must unite as one Man to look in the same direction.
As you can imagine, this is my official declaration of candidacy for the 2021 presidential election in Congo Brazzaville, in a context marked by the socio-health crisis which is in full swing, it should be stressed.
My pious thoughts are with the victims of the novel Covid-19.
It is then that I bow to the memory of all those of our compatriots who left us following this pandemic, and I wish a speedy recovery to those who still struggle to live, in deplorable sanitary conditions, and unworthy of a country that had everything in terms of resources to build an El Dorado.
The bulimia of a ruling caste, having no forward-looking vision, will have strayed it from the path of its royal destiny.
Indeed, our health system more than failing, notwithstanding financial improvements, is a perfect illustration.

My fellow patriots,

I recognize that this announcement has a certain presumption, audacity, to be sure.
Some will even say that I left Congo Brazzaville, my country, a long time ago, and that I am disconnected from the reality of the average Congolese.
But the distance that this journey has engendered, notwithstanding the time which passes and the hope which withers away, you can be sure of it, has never left me indifferent in the face of the drifts of all kinds, of a regime that has sufficiently shown its limits, and its inability to satisfy its people even if only in basic need.

Namely: Clean water, electricity, education for all, employment, health, food self-sufficiency and so on.

All these difficulties, I know them from having lived them, being born of a modest Congolese family.
Because the difficulty became the path, I had to leave my native Congo at a very young age to conquer an improbable fate.
I would never have found myself on an adventure thousands of kilometres from my native land, if we had had patriotic and responsible leaders.
I would never have laundered my nights in the streets of Johannesburg in the dead of winter, in search of the bare minimum that would allow me to study in a decent environment, if the Congolese state had not resigned.

It is this sad reality that faces every day and all the time, many of our young compatriots whom I wish good luck.
This is still the opportunity to remind them that dreams are always allowed to them.
Because, in a world where the dreams of young people never come true, the doors to the future are closed for everyone.
It is when youth begins to become a hope that history stops being a new beginning and becomes an invention.
Dear compatriots, when I was very young, I was moved by Michelangelo’s prayer: “Lord, grant me the grace to always desire more than I can accomplish“.

This is what I would like to wish you, young Congolese who follow me today, that in your lives you always keep the desire to surpass yourself, the desire to achieve, the will to make your existence something big and strong.
Youth should never admit defeat.
That’s why, my dear friends, valuing personal effort has always been my credo.
My daily life could illustrate it better.
I started from zero, until I was a Business Owner.
The dream fertilizes reality. To conspire for a desired future is to refuse to submit to a fatalistic present.

My dear compatriots,
Congolese, Congolese,

It is therefore possible for us to start from nothing and reach the firmaments. If I did it for my own life, nothing would stop me from doing it for my homeland.
Still, hasn’t history taught us in the sumptuous words of Frantz Fanon that “Each generation must, in relative opacity, find its mission, fulfil it or betray it?”

In the silence of the ending night, I discovered ours: RESTORING THE RULE OF LAW in Congo Brazzaville, in a community of common destiny.
I have learned the hard way, that when several Men dream together, it can be the start of a new reality.
I know that many of us dream of a new, more dignified and an emerging Republic of Congo where the retired workers will never be mistreated.

A united Congo, where there will be neither Kongo, nor Lari, nor Bembe, nor Mbochi, nor vili, nor Kouyou, nor Teke, nor Northerner, nor Southerner.
A Congo built on robust institutions rather than on strong men, where the law will be said, in justice and equity.
A Congo haven of peace, where there will be no civil war or tribulation.
A Congo where corruption and financial mismanagement will be openly declared “criminal offences”, and where transparency will reign in the management of public funds.
A Congo where elections will be free, fair and transparent for all citizens.
A Congo where the military will loyally serve the people and protect the Constitution of the land rather than being instrument for individuals’ lust of power.
Finally, a Congo where love and forgiveness will take precedence over hatred and revenge.

It took a Man like Nelson MANDELA to free not only the prisoner, but the jailer as well.

To show that we have to trust others so that they can give us back the lift, to teach everyone that reconciliation does not only mean ignoring a cruel past, but also facing it by countering it with inclusion, generosity and above all the truth.

My dear friends,
Dear all,

The dream that I cherish for this one and indivisible Congo is that of resetting the barometers to zero.
I, President of the Republic, no witch hunts will be tolerated for some reasons of revenge.
The law will certainly be said, but forgiveness does exist.
It is on this surge of love, unity and harmony that I urge my brother, President Denis SASSOU NGUESSO, to release all political prisoners.
The Congolese have a great need to go to a peaceful election, and to freely choose the candidate they will bring to the supreme office.

My dear compatriots, Finally the Congo!

Let us finally be that generation which will bring the Congo out of the meander of the most infamous misery in which it has been plunged for ages.
Let us be these valiant men and women who will tackle nepotism, despotism, tyranny, financial mismanagement, concussion, fraud, tribalism in all its discriminatory forms, all in all, the evils that undermine our experience daily.

Let us be the generation that will free the Congo from its desired poverty, due to the bad governance of our predecessors.
Let us be indignant, but let us engage.
Because, this Congo which has given us so much, calls us and gives us the opportunity to rewrite its history on golden pages, so that we find the path of exemplarity, and politics its letters of nobility.

We will rebuild what they destroyed.
We will reunite what they struggled to divide.
We will pay the debts they caused us.
We will forgive them for the harm they have done to us.

However, all of this can only be obvious if we are all looking in the same direction.
This is why this candidacy, which I place under the sign of qualitative renewal, cannot be limited to my modest person.
It is addressed to all Congolese. It’s about what we can do together.
This application must be the occasion, the vector, of your hopes and your dreams.
It will require your time, your energy and your guidance.
This candidacy must be about conquering the notion of citizenship, re-establishing a sense of common interest and realizing that few obstacles can resist the power of millions of voices calling for change.

I am declaring my candidacy not only to want to run for office, but to join you so that together we transform the Congo into an El Dorado.
I am the candidate for social justice and for the future.
I want to be the candidate for renewal, for hope, for an efficient education system, for a health system worthy of the expectations of the Congolese.
I am embarking on this battle for the poor, the marginalized in society, I am launching for the unemployed, for unemployed graduates.
I am embarking on this battle to create wealth.
I would like to take up a task unfinished by President Alphonse MASSAMBA DEBAT, to whom I pay a deferential tribute here for his good and loyal services to the Republic, Namely, the industrialization of Congo.

And if you are, like me, sensitive to the call of fate, and if you see, like me, a future of infinite possibilities, and if you see just like me, that the time has come to come out of our torpor, to get rid of our fears and pay off a debt to past generations, especially the fathers of independence, then I am ready to take up this cause.

Let us complete the work that needs to be done and usher in the rebirth of freedom.
I officially declare myself a candidate for the 2021 presidential election.

May God bless the Republic of Congo, land of our ancestors.