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 long 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 in Ouésso in Sangha Region. 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.
Political career
Back in Congo, Bongho-Nouarra was head of the agricultural engineering subdivision in Pointe-Noire, then regional director of the first agricultural region. He became President of the Junior Chamber International in Congo and was elected as Vice-President of the Junior Chamber International at its congress in Oklahoma City. He was also President of the Congolese Olympic Committee. After serving as President of the Economic and Social Council from 1964 to 1965, he was appointed as Secretary of State at the Presidency of the Republic, in charge of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Water, and Forests, by President Alphonse Massamba-Débat in 1966.
Bongho-Nouarra became Minister of Agriculture in January 1968 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, but in August 1970 he was accused of complicity in an anti-government plot, and he was sentenced to ten years in prison. While in prison, he was tortured, and he was released in 1971 due to poor health. He went into exile in France, where he recovered his health and became a consultant to a number of French and Swiss companies. As a businessman, he returned to Congo-Brazzaville in 1977, but left under pressure and remained in exile in France until 1990.
Returning to Congo-Brazzaville with the introduction of multiparty politics in 1990, Bongho-Nouarra became Honorary President of the Party for the Reconstruction and Development of the Congo (PRDC). He was elected as the Second Vice-President of the 1991 National Conference, which marked the beginning of the transition to multiparty elections. 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 Christophe Moukouéké signed an agreement with Congolese Labour Party (PCT) Secretary-General Ambroise Noumazalaye; the agreement provided for an alliance between the parties.
Following Lissouba's victory, he appointed Bongho-Nouarra as Prime Minister on September 2, 1992. Bongho-Nouarra's government was named on September 7; 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.