Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Jean-Claude Gakosso
Just like President Nguesso, Jean-Claude Gakosso is a member of the Mbochi tribe. He was born on July 25 1957 at Inkouélé, a town of the Gamboma District in the Plateaux Region. He received his education from the famous Sorbonne in France and before being appointed to office, he held a tenure as lecturer at the Marien Ngouabi University on journalism.
The first steps of his political career were taken between 1997 and 2002, after the first civil war. At that time, he served as special advisor to the President on Communication, Telecommunications and Posts. On August 18 2002, he succeeded Mambou Aimée Gnali as Minister of Culture, Arts and tourism. While in office, he also served as Government Spokesman and interim Minister of Parliament Relations and Communication for brief periods of time.
Within the priorities of his tenure was the rekindling of the eternal flame commemorating former President Marien Ngouabi at the namesake Mausoleum just a few months after he received the appointment. A flame that had been extinguished at the first civil war. He wanted to do that as «the flame symbolizes the pain, resistance, self-sacrifice and courage embodied by President Marien Ngouabi».
He was re-appointed to the position in 2007 with a slightly reduced scope of responsibilities to Culture and Arts only, to stay in office until August 25 2015 when he was moved to the position he currently holds as Minister of Foreign Affairs replacing Basile Ikouébé. The most prominent action so far has been his systematic attempt to re-organize the diplomatic structure of Congo. Under this notion he recalled 16 ambassadors and dismissed them from the respective posts they were holding. He also sent a letter to the European Union asking that their ambassador in Brazzaville be recalled after the criticism about the re-election of President Nguesso in 2016.
Apart from his political career he is also a published author. L’ Harmattan published his work «From the Gulag to the Agora» in 1997. Other works include «The Heritage of the African Music in America and the Caribbean», «The autoregulation of media in Congo Brazzaville», «Recklessness» and «Congo Brazzaville».