Brazzaville

Overview:

Civil wars and militia conflicts have plagued the Republic of Congo, which is sometimes referred to as Congo-Brazzaville.   Nearly half the population lives in poverty, according to the World Bank, even though the Republic of Congo is one of sub-Saharan Africa's main oil producers. Oil is the mainstay of the economy and in recent years the country has tried to increase financial transparency in the sector. Denis Sassou Nguesso is one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, having first come to power almost four decades ago.  He was installed as president by the military in 1979 and lost his position in the country's first multi-party elections in 1992.  He returned to power in 1997 after a brief but bloody civil war in which he was backed by Angolan troops.  He gained his latest seven-year term after elections in March 2016.  Constitutional changes to allow him to stand for another term were condemned by the opposition as a constitutional coup.  A French-trained paratrooper colonel, Mr Sassou Nguesso is seen as a pragmatist. During his first presidency in 1979-92 he loosened the country's links with the Soviet bloc and gave French, US and other Western companies roles in oil exploration and production.

But he has also been dogged by corruption allegations. In May 2009, a French judge announced an investigation into whether Mr. Nguesso and two other African leaders - all of whom deny wrongdoing - had plundered state coffers to buy luxury homes and cars in France. 

Source:  BBC Country Profile

American Embassy Brazzaville:

The newly opened Embassy Brazzaville maintained a small staff of American Foreign Service officers and included employees from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assigned to the World Health Organization mission in Brazzaville. The DCM was Jonathan Pratt who became Ambassador to Djibouti and who BTW was a PCV in Guinea Bissau.  The Management Officer, Vanessa Brooks, was a fairly new FSO and had to rely a lot on the Management Officer in Kinshasa and her staff for assistance in managing Human Resources (HR), Financial Management and General Services.    

The builder of the U.S. Embassy, BL Harbert, faced many challenges as a result of many years of civil war and violence in the Congo.  The city of Brazzaville’s infrastructure was left in complete ruin, making the importation of materials and equipment challenging.   Despite this challenge, Harbert constructed four main facilities on the 11-acre compound, including a two-story chancery building and utility building project that was completed three months ahead of schedule.  

Findings:

We had seven workdays in Brazzaville (from February 26 - March 9, 2009) and only three days to interview the staff and develop our findings.  It was the most compressed schedule I had experienced including working weekends to write up memorandums of conversations (Memcons) and prepare worksheets for my recommendations.   

Even with the New Embassy Compound (NEC) the embassy had to address some serious real property issues.  With all the materials left over from construction the embassy needed to conduct an inventory, identify what is salvageable and usable, and properly store this material in the warehouses. Any unneeded construction material and other obsolete or damaged items should be disposed of through a property sale. The embassy should coordinate with the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) and dispose of the two parcels of excess property that overlook the Congo River.  With the NEC and modern building systems a Safety, Health, and Environmental Management program in accordance with regulations was needed.  The local Public Affairs Villa Washington Information Resource Center needed to bring the facility into conformity with security standards.

In terms of administration the embassy needed to establish a functional medical unit and hire a local contract physician.

In the area of HR the embassy needed to review the Republic of the Congo labor law and the local practice of comparators regarding severance pay to determine if a change should be made to the local compensation plan. HR regional support from Embassy Kinshasa called for assistance in working with the Computer Aided Job Evaluation system adjust the grades of assigned to particular positions.  Supervisors did not complete of performance evaluations for all Locally Employed (LE) Staff timely.  There was a significant amount of funds in a suspense account for LE Staff retirement.  OIG recommended that the embassy, in coordination with the Bureau of African Affairs, and Bureau of Human Resources, make a determination on the disposition of the funds and consider establishing a defined contribution fund for LE Staff. 

For financial management Embassy Brazzaville, in coordination with the Global Financial Services in Charleston, needed to conduct a review of banking arrangements in the Republic of the Congo and determine whether a new depository account can be established with a local bank that will meet the needs of both the United States Disbursing Office and the employees for electronic salary payments.  There was a total of 35 informal recommendations in the OIG report to support the need for assistance from embassy Kinshasa staff. 

Highlights:

We crossed the two miles of the mighty Congo in 10 minutes to Brazzaville.  It was a 15-passenger pontoon type boat and moved real swiftly.  We had to wear life vests.  Very nice hotel, the Olympic Palace, and a lot cleaner than the Grand in Kinshasa.  Needless to say, there was not much to do in Brazzaville.  At home construction of our new custom-built home on Daniel Island was nearing completion and Doris facilitated contact with the builder to include installing all the furnishings that we sent from Bangkok.   

                                                                         

                                                                         Crossing the Mighty Congo River