Stéphane Maurice Bongho-Nouarra

Stéphane Maurice Bongho-Nouarra (June 6, 1937 – October 7, 2007) was a Congolese politician. He served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville during the late 1960s, and after a period in exile, he returned and played an important role in the politics of the 1990s. Bongho-Nouarra was briefly Prime Minister of Congo-Brazzaville from September 1992 to December 1992.

Early life and education Bongho-Nourra was born on June 6, 1937, in Ouésso. He attended primary school in Brazzaville and Owando (then Fort Rousset) and received his certificate of elementary education on June 14, 1949. After attending high school, where he was sixth in his class, he entered military school in Brazzaville on October 1, 1951, remaining there until 1954. Subsequently, he studied in France; after completing his education, he returned to Congo-Brazzaville in 1963. and was subsequently appointed as Minister of Public Works, Housing, and Transport in the government named on January 1, 1969. Soon afterwards, however, he was dismissed from the government by President Marien Ngouabi due to political differences of opinion. He instead took an administrative post at an agricultural school, While in prison, he was tortured, In the 1992 parliamentary election, he was elected to the National Assembly from the Mbama constituency in Cuvette-Ouest Region. At that time, he was the National Coordinator of the National Alliance for Democracy (AND), 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. On August 11, 1992, Bongho-Nourra, acting as National Coordinator of the AND, and UPADS Secretary-General signed an agreement with Congolese Labour Party (PCT) Secretary-General Ambroise Noumazalaye; the agreement provided for an alliance between the parties. 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. It joined with the opposition Union for Democratic Renewal (URD) seven-party alliance to form a parliamentary majority against UPADS, and consequently Bongho-Nouarra's government was defeated in a no-confidence vote on October 31, 1992; the AND deputies were not present for the vote, and it was conducted by a show of hands. As a result of the vote, Bongho-Nouarra resigned on November 11 and Lissouba, rather than appoint a new prime minister from the opposition alliance, Although he wanted Bongho-Nouarra to remain in office until a new parliamentary election was held, 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. He also continued to hold high-level posts during Lissouba's presidency, serving as Special Adviser to the President of the Republic, with the rank of Minister of State, as President of the Sociocultural Committee, and then as Minister of National Defense. Bongho-Nouarra lived in Brussels, Belgium in poor health for several years before he died there on October 7, 2007, aged 69. On October 8, Sassou Nguesso called his death "a great loss". Bongho-Nouarra's body was returned to Congo-Brazzaville on October 22, and he was buried at a cemetery in Brazzaville on October 23.