François Ibovi

François Ibovi (born 1954[1]) is Congolese politician. He served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of Communication from 1997 to 2002 and as Minister of Territorial Administration from 2002 to 2007. Since September 2007, he has been the First Vice-President of the National Assembly.

Political career

An ethnic Mbochi,[2] Ibovi was born in Edou, located in the Oyo District of Cuvette Region, in the north of the country; Edou is also the birthplace of President Denis Sassou Nguesso.[1] He studied journalism in the Soviet Union in the 1970s; after returning, he became a leader of the Union of Congolese Socialist Youth and joined the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) in 1977. He worked on national television as a journalist during the 1980s, and he was first elected to the National Assembly in the June–July 1992 parliamentary election as a candidate in Oyo constituency.[3]

During the 1997 civil war, Ibovi was a spokesman for Sassou Nguesso.[4] After Sassou Nguesso returned to power in October 1997, Ibovi was appointed as Minister of Communication and Government Spokesman on 2 November 1997.[5] When rebels loyal to Bernard Kolelas attempted to seize Brazzaville, the capital, in December 1998, Ibovi denied Kolelas' claim that his forces were effectively in control of the city, saying that Kolelas was delusional and that the army had the upper hand.[6] In the government named on 12 January 1999, he remained Minister of Communication and Government Spokesman and was also assigned responsibility for relations with Parliament.[7]

In the 2002 parliamentary election, Ibovi was elected to the National Assembly as the PCT candidate for Oyo constituency;[8] he was the only candidate[9] and won the seat in the first round with 100% of the vote.[8] He remained in the government after the election; on 18 August 2002, he was appointed as Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization,[1] in which position he remained for over five years.[10]

Criticism of problems in the conduct of the first round of the 2007 parliamentary election, held in June, led Ibovi to suspend the Director General for Electoral Affairs, Armand Baboutila, on 28 June for alleged negligence in the handling of the election;[11][12] he appointed Gaston Ololo in Baboutila's place for the second round of the election.[12] Hervé Ambroise Malonga, acting as spokesman for parties calling for a boycott of the election, said that higher level officials should take responsibility and called for the resignation of Ibovi and the president of the electoral commission.[11]

Ibovi was again elected to the National Assembly as a PCT candidate from Oyo constituency in the 2007 parliamentary election,[13][14] receiving 99% of the vote.[14] When the National Assembly opened for its new parliamentary term on 4 September 2007, Ibovi was elected as its First Vice-President;[15][16][17] he received 122 votes from the 129 deputies who voted.[17] Having been elected to a post in the Bureau of the National Assembly, it was inevitable that Ibovi would be dismissed from his powerful post in the government; some believed that President Sassou Nguesso was demoting Ibovi as punishment for his widely criticized management of the election.[18] Ibovi was eventually replaced as Minister of Territorial Administration by Raymond Mboulou in the government named on 30 December 2007.[10][19]

At the PCT's Sixth Extraordinary Congress, held in July 2011, Ibovi was re-elected to the PCT's 51-member Political Bureau.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c Short official biography (French).
  2. ^ "Nepotists' nirvana", Africa Confidential, volume 45, number 9, 30 April 2004.
  3. ^ Philippe Perdrix, "François Ibovi", Jeune Afrique, 15 May 2005 (French).
  4. ^ "African leader and rival agree to halt clashes", The Deseret News, 6 July 1997.
  5. ^ "Le gouvernement du CONGO formé le 01/11/1997", Afrique Express (French).
  6. ^ "Congo government denies rebels hold Brazzaville", BBC News, 20 December 1998.
  7. ^ List of governments of Congo since 1999, izf.net (French).
  8. ^ a b "Elections législatives : les 51 élus du premier tour", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 5 June 2002 (French).
  9. ^ "Elections législatives : le ministère de l’Intérieur publie la liste officielle des 1 199 candidats", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 14 May 2002 (French).
  10. ^ a b "Léger remaniement du gouvernement", Xinhua, 31 December 2007 (French).
  11. ^ a b "Congo: un opposant demande l'annulation du premier tour des législatives", Agence France-Presse, 29 June 2007 (French).
  12. ^ a b "Top election chief sacked after poll chaos", Agence France-Presse, 28 June 2007.
  13. ^ "La liste complète des députés", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 11 August 2007 (French).
  14. ^ a b "Elections législatives : les 44 élus du premier tour", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 2 July 2007 (French).
  15. ^ "La nouvelle Assemblée nationale entre en fonction", Xinhua, 5 September 2007 (French).
  16. ^ "Election du nouveau président de l'Assemblée nationale", Panapress, 5 September 2007 (French).
  17. ^ a b "Bureau de l'Assemblée nationale issu des elections législatives de 2007", Congo-Media, 4 September 2007 (French).
  18. ^ Rémy Bazenguissa-Ganga, "Congo", in Africa Yearbook: Politics, Economy and Society South of the Sahara in 2007 (2008), eds. Andreas Mehler, Henning Melber, and Klaas van Walraven, Brill, page 234.
  19. ^ "Le président Denis Sassou N'Guesso remanie légèrement son gouvernement", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 30 December 2007 (French).
  20. ^ 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).