A last tribute was paid this Monday, August 31 to the former Congolese president, Pascal Lissouba. It took place in Perpignan, in the south of France. In accordance with the wishes of his family, it is there that he was buried “provisionally” until the “conditions” are met for his return to his country. Pascal Lissouba had been living in exile for twenty-three years, since he had had to leave power in favor of Denis Sassou Nguesso, at the end of a murderous war.
It was a ceremony that lasted more than three hours and took place in a calm atmosphere, in the presence, outside, of the municipal and national police who feared possible clashes.
Before the arrival of the coffin, greeted by applause and a few raised fists, several supporters of the former president sang songs in his honor, to the sound of “In Congo, things are not going well “.
During the mass, his relatives who spoke drew a portrait of him as an intellectual, committed to “democracy and the emancipation of his people”, in the words of his youngest son, Jeremy Lissouba. A man who has “suffered from his exile” and from being “misunderstood”… “deprived of his dream of development,” said Mireille Lissouba, his eldest daughter. She spoke first and concluded her tribute with the words: “One day, one day he will go home”, which triggered applause.
Among the political personalities present : Pascal Tasty Mabiala, current First Secretary of UPADS, the party founded by Pascal Lissouba, but above all several of his former collaborators, also in exile, such as his former Minister of Oil, Benoit Koukebene, that of Justice, Joseph Ouabari Mariotti and supporters of the Diaspora.
The mayor of Perpignan, the National Rally elected Louis Aliot, attended the mass. Congo was represented by its ambassador to France, Rodolphe Adada, alongside a few members of the French federation of the PCT, the party of Denis Sassou-Nguesso. The president of that federation finally invited his activists not to attend “for security reasons”, saying they were “not welcome.