Misplaced Pages

#626373

13-736: The party was co-founded by Kolélas and renowned novelist and writer Sony Lab'ou Tansi ; its statutes were deposited at the Ministry of the Interior on 3 August 1989. Kolélas was the MCDDI's candidate in the August 1992 presidential election , in which he placed second behind Pascal Lissouba of the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS). Didier Sengha , an MCDDI deputy in the National Assembly, left

26-686: The 2007 parliamentary election as well as subsequent local, senatorial, and presidential elections. In the parliamentary election, held on June 24 and August 5, 2007, the party won 11 out of 137 seats in the National Assembly. At the MCDDI's First Convention, held in Brazzaville on 24–25 May 2008, Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas , a son of Bernard Kolélas, was designated as the Coordinator of the MCDDI National Executive Bureau and National Secretary for Development Strategies. In that capacity, he

39-488: The Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development (MCDDI), a political party acting against the communist regime of President Denis Sassou Nguesso and his Congolese Labour Party . Left-wing forces succeeded in pushing President Sassou toward democracy, and former Prime Minister Pascal Lissouba returned from an extended exile and was elected President in the August 1992 elections . In that same year, Tansi

52-657: The Grand Prix Littéraire d'Afrique Noire . In his later years, he ran a theatrical company in Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo . The oldest of seven children, Tansi was born in the former Belgian Congo , in the village of Kimwaanza, just south of the city now known as Kinshasa in the modern day Democratic Republic of the Congo . He was initially educated in the local language, Kikongo , and only began speaking French at

65-709: The MCDDI in April 1995 and founded a new party, the Party of Unity, Work and Progress (PUTP), in May 1995. The new party said that the MCDDI had abandoned its principles and that Kolélas controlled the MCDDI in an autocratic manner; Kolélas, in turn, denounced Sengha as a criminal, saying that he was guilty of embezzlement and misappropriating funds. The MCDDI and the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) of President Denis Sassou Nguesso signed an agreement on April 24, 2007 to form an alliance for

78-695: The Rocado Zulu Theatre, which would go on to perform his plays in Africa, Europe, and the United States in addition to appearing regularly at the Festival International des Francophonies in Limoges . After teaching for many years, Tansi moved on to government work, serving as an administrator in several ministries in Brazzaville. In the late 1980s he allied with opposition leader Bernard Kolélas to found

91-489: The age of 61, after contracting COVID-19 . Sony Lab%27ou Tansi Sony Lab'ou Tansi (5 July 1947 – 14 June 1995), born Marcel Ntsoni , was a Congolese novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and poet in French language . Though he was only 47 when he died, Tansi remains one of the most prolific African writers and the most internationally renowned practitioner of the "New African Writing." His novel The Antipeople won

104-552: The age of 76 on 13 November 2009. The MCDDI Executive Bureau met on 23 January 2010 and decided that Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas would serve as Interim President of the MCDDI, in addition to his role as Coordinator of the Executive Bureau, until a party congress could be held. In its previous 20 years of existence under Bernard Kolélas, the MCDDI had never held a congress. Speaking to MCDDI supporters in June 2014, Kolélas sharply criticized

117-457: The age of twelve, when his family moved to Congo-Brazzaville, today known as the Republic of the Congo . He attended the École Normale Supérieure d'Afrique Centrale in Brazzaville where he studied literature, and upon completing his education in 1971, he became a French and English teacher in Kindamba and Pointe-Noire . When the young teacher began writing for the theatre later that year, he adopted

130-452: The party's ally, the PCT, for failing to fulfill its promises. He complained that the MCDDI had been promised a variety of posts—"ambassadors, prefects, mayors and many other things"—but that the PCT had not followed through. Nevertheless, he said that he would not terminate the alliance, as it was "signed on the blood of our ancestors". Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas died on 22 March 2021, at

143-540: The pen name "Sony La'bou Tansi" as a tribute to Tchicaya U Tam'si , a fellow Congolese writer who wrote politically charged poetry about oppressive nature of the state. In the early part of his career, Tansi continued to support himself through teaching and he worked as an English instructor at the Collège Tchicaya-Pierre in Pointe Noire while working on his first two novels and several plays. In 1979 he founded

SECTION 10

#1732868827627

156-441: Was considered the second ranking member of the party, after his father. However, his father was by that point an elderly man in apparently declining health (although present, he failed to even give the closing speech at the convention), and thus the son was effectively being designated as the MCDDI's de facto leader. It was also considered evident that he was being positioned to ultimately succeed his father. Bernard Kolélas died at

169-512: Was elected to parliament as a deputy for the Makélékélé arrondissement of Brazzaville, but his participation in opposition politics angered President Lissouba, and his passport was withdrawn in 1994. Tansi soon discovered that he had contracted the AIDS virus, but Lissouba's travel restrictions prevented him from going abroad to seek treatment for himself and his wife. Tansi's partner, Pierrette, died from

#626373