The First Republic of the Congo Civil War, also known as the First Brazzaville-Congolese Civil War, was a conflict in the Republic of the Congo which lasted from 2 November 1993 to 30 January 1994 and was between rival militias led by former politician Bernard Kolelas, former Prime Minister Pascal Lissouba, and former President Denis Sassou-Nguesso. It was one of four instances of militia fighting within the country, setting the stage for the next three conflicts in 1997, 1998–99, and 2002. The war was a direct result of unresolved claims of election fraud in the 1992 presidential election. The First Congo Civil War and the decade of conflict that followed resulted in the deaths of over 12,000 people and the displacement of 860,000 more.
A Brief History of Government in Congo-Brazzaville
Post-Independence
Shortly after gaining independence in 1964, the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) experienced a "period of great instability," in which the military and executive branches of its one-party state came into conflict several times. Some resolution came in the form of Colonel Denis Sassou-Nguesso, an autocratic ruler who took power in 1979 and oversaw a decade of economic growth centered around the oil industry and reparations to relations with France, the former colonial power of Congo-Brazzaville. While he maintained stability by offering positions in the government to elites all around the country, he also turned the country into a "neopatrimonial rentier state," redistributing oil money to allies and prospective supporters of his regime in exchange for education and employment.
1992 Elections and the Push for Democracy
Following an international push for democratization in Francophone countries, President Sassou-Nguesso resigned in 1992. However, instead of being an opportunity to shape a lasting democracy, the 1992 elections were largely seen as a chance to take control of the country's oil reserves. Sassou-Nguesso ran in the election to be the head of the new government against Pascal Lissouba, a former prime minister, and Bernard Kolelas, a former politician. Lissouba won the election due to the fact that his home in the south had the most demographic weight.
Government under Lissouba
Lissouba initially ruled a coalition government in partnership with Sassou-Nguesso, who had a strong base but not enough numerical support to win the initial election. However, when Lissouba refused to adopt Sassou's rentier state model of government, Sassou left the coalition. Lissouba did not give any of Sassou's followers prominent positions in the cabinet, which deprived Sassou of access to "key sources of oil rents and patronage." Without Sassou's aid, Lissouba struggled to maintain control and established a private security force to keep himself secure in power. The situation quickly devolved as Kolelas saw the creation of a militia as an act of aggression and created one of his own, drawing from youths from his own geographic background and deepening ethnic divisions within the government. In 1992, Lissouba responded to Sassou's defection, which deprived him of most of his parliamentary power, by dissolving the parliament itself. Sassou called for a new election in 1993, hoping to win by an overwhelming margin to solidify his power. Instead, Lissouba won forty-nine seats, and Kolelas and Sassou-Nguesso together won sixty-two. Kolelas decided to boycott the second round of voting and urged his supporters to do the same, inciting them and members of his militia to civil disobedience and violence with claims of fraud.