Landing in Brazzaville felt like heaven compared to the last country (Angola) as far as I am concerned and the first thing that I notice about this place is that the prices are much more reasonable. For one thing, the hotel prices are at least 5-10 times cheaper than they are in Angola, which is good news for our mission. The next thing that I learn is that this country is also known as Congo-Brazzaville, Little Congo, or simply the Congo, which helps to separate it from neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire), whose capital is Kinshasa, which is quite close to Brazzaville.
After a good nights sleep, I am excited to get to work as soon as possible here. My friend Jean-Philippe van Nyen has already been working very hard for Kosovo ever since I left him in Sao Tome and Principe. He was able to put me in touch with some contacts in Angola and now he has worked things out for me in Brazzaville, where he called an old family friend, Mr. Paul Valentin Mossimbi. Mr. Valentin Mossimbi and Mr. Van Nyen’s father have been friends for over 20 years now. As soon as I arrived, I began to make plans to meet him right away.
Mr. Valentin Mossimbi and I meet first thing Monday morning and he immediately started working his magic with his government. Paul is my new grandpapa. He has the greatest sense of humor and personality. He is also a successful businessman who knows everyone that has authority in his country. The Minister of Sustainable Development, the Forest Economy and the Environment is his close cousin, so it was easy to get an appointment with him on Monday. Mr. Henri Djombo was very thorough in trying to understand the issue of Kosovo’s independence and personally expressed that we should be recognized by his government and that it would be the right thing to do. Our meeting was very successful and he reassured me that he would do anything possible with his coworkers and partners in order to push our independence issue forward with his government.
Mr. Djombo then called his Director of Communications who took charge right away by directing us to the Minister of Foreign Affairs office for a meeting. Of course, Paul was with us at all times during the day and he turned out to be great company to me as we were waiting for an open appointment with the Minister. At first, we were told that the Minister’s day was packed with appointment. However, we learned later that the Minister had some hesitations about meeting with us due to his concern that he would receive repercussions from his superiors. On the other hand, that means that the Minister already knew the purpose of my visit and that I had Vlora Citaku’s letter to deliver to him. Thanks to all of the MFA staff for the sense of care that they showed to our mission during this time and specifically to Mr. Gasto Bavovidits, Chef de Secretariat du Cabinet of the Minister, who promised to pass our much treasured letter from Ms. Citaku directly to his boss, the Minister himself.
I had much better luck with the media here in Brazzaville. I want to thank all of the professional journalists and their bosses for giving our mission the greatest attention. Depeches de Brazzaville was the first newspaper that interviewed me. I could tell that Mr. Nestor N’Gampoula already knew a lot about Kosovo before beginning our meeting.
The next newspaper, Le Nouvel Observateur was my most memorable interview here in Congo-Brazzaville. This newspaper is owned by Mr. Gabriel Bouzanda, an amazing, caring and spiritual man who was very attentive and involved with my interview with his journalist, Mr. Valda St-Val. Both men asked me very detailed questions and Mr. Bouzanda showed a real love for other human beings around the world. He knew Kosovo’s history well and reported that he felt very attached to our nation’s predicament because he and his family also have a history of hard times due to the the recent war here in the Congo. People like Mr. Bouzanda are inspiring to meet and remember forever. His spirituality, his beliefs and his warm heart help to remind me of our common bond as humans. No matter where we are on this great planet, or where we are from, most of us share the same values and hopes for our future and our families.
Thanks to Mr. Godelh Godefroy Baouadila, with the newspaper Maintenant for his dedication and friendliness. He was deeply involved with all kinds of questions during our interview. At La Semaine Africaine, Mr. Veran Carrhol Yanga also did a wonderful newspaper interview.
In regards to television, I had great luck as well. My first interview was at MNTV, which stands for Maurice N’Guesso, who is the brother of the President. Thank you to all of the managers for having made my interview possible and to Ms. Miguette Mangoula, who was in command and made sure that our interview went really well and was broadcast live on the evening news. The other television station was TOP TV which is reportedly owned by the daughter of the nation’s President. This made it very convenient for Kosovo since we were able to get an interview with them (which means that there is no one in between to decide wether or not to cover our story). I want to mention that at this station, I encountered Mr. Igor Cameron. He was a great journalist who really took time with our story. He requested to have a few days to research about Kosovo before our interview. He was very thorough and completed a full one hour interview with me. Mr. Cameron really takes pride in his work and is very neat. He has lots of talent, was very comprehensive and has an awesome personality.
Finally, I never want to forget the taxi drivers that I meet and make friends with in each country. Mr. Joseph Diazolamfoumou was able to move me all around Brazzaville in a timely manner in order to help me accomplish my duties here in the Republic of Congo.
From the few days that I was able to spend here in Brazzaville, it appears to be a nice country. I want to remember again, my new grandpa Paul who really took care of me and who also invited me to an excellent restaurant for lunch, where I was able to have a great meal. He made me feel at home in a foreign country that is so far from where my own home is.
Let’s hope that the President of Republic of the Congo-Brazzaville can make a decision about Kosovo soon and that he watched our interview on his brother’s MNTV station and his daughter’s Top TV program.
God Bless Congo, Brazzaville and its people.
Les Depeches
