Last modified: 2023-12-09 by bruce berry
Keywords: congo | south congo |
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by Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 15 April 2015
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The independence of the State of South Congo (État du Congo du Sud in French) was proclaimed in the Request of Declaration of the State of South Congo, signed on 14 April 2014 and submitted by registered postal mail on 22 April 2014 to Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, with acknowledgement of receipt granted on 01 May 2014. The applicants gave a press conference on 10 June 2014 in Paris.
The National Council of South Congo was established on 23 September 2014. The main goal of the Council is to prepare the institutions of the new state, following a referendum to be organized under the aegis of the United Nations. The partition of the Republic of Congo into two states is expected to be organized on the Czechoslovak model, "with mutual respect".
The leader of South Congo is Modeste Boukadia (b. 1954), an opponent to
President of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso (1979-1992 and since 1997, after having
overthrown Pascal Lissouba). In 1993 Boukadia established the Cercle des
démocrates et républicains du Congo (CDRC) party. He was a candidate in the
presidential election of 1997, which was cancelled because of the civil war and
in 2009, when he withdrew after the first round was postponed.
Following a protest march organized in Pointe-à-Pitre, Boukadia was sentenced
(in absentia) in 2014 to 30 years of jail. This will prevent him standing
as a candidate in the presidential election scheduled to be held in 2016.
The self-proclaimed state is made up of the five, southern departments of Koulou
(capital, Pointe-Noire), Niari (Dolisie), Lékoumou (Sibiti), Bouenza (Madingou),
and Pool (Madingou). This represents 30% of the area of Congo and 85% of
its population, includes the two main towns of Brazzaville (the administrative
capital) and Pointe-Noire (the commercial capital). This area is presented as
the "Ancestral Lands of the Peoples of South Congo", inhabited by the Bantu
Kongo nation. The proclamation states that the Republic of Congo has been
"conquered" by the Mbochi, the nation living in northern Congo, and, especially
by Sassou Nguesso's clan of that nation. The proclamation accuses Sassou-Nguesso
of ethnical cleansing, of planned destruction, and of genocide against the
civilian peoples of southern Congo. (Source: South Congo blog
27 June 2014 and
24 Sept 2014)
Ivan Sache, 24 Sept 2014
The flag of South Congo, registered on 08 August 2014 in the "database
of all the flags of the world", is horizontally divided red-white with
a golden yellow triangle placed along the hoist.
The colours are specified (according to the Pantone system), as:
- Red: 032;
- White: Neutral;
- Yellow: 116c.
(Source: South Congo blog)
No official comment or recognition of the new state has been forthcoming.
Ivan Sache, 24 Sept 2014
