In Congo-Brazzaville, the orphan opposition

Two years after the death of Guy-Brice Parfait Kolélas, the party founded by the opponent, the UDH-YUKI, is looking for his successor, with a view to the Congolese presidential election of 2026.

During the 2021 Congolese presidential election, Guy-Brice Parfait Kolélas campaigned for the Union of Humanist Democrats-YUKI (UDH-YUKI). Sad irony of fate: on March 21, while the Congolese were voting, the opponent was evacuated by medical plane to France, after being diagnosed with Covid-19. The same evening, while still on board the aircraft, Guy-Brice Parfait Kolélas was declared dead.

Two years later, the UDH-YUKI decided to meet to prepare for the future. In congress, the party intends, despite the death of Guy-Brice Parfait Kolélas, to play a role in the next elections. In 2021, the political formation had recorded a score of less than 8%, despite disputes over the official results.

The young party – founded in 2017 by Guy-Brice Parfait Kolélas – will it survive without its leader? Activists believe in it. They were nearly 750 to participate in the UDH-Yuki congress. Pascal Ngouanou, first vice-president, felt that we had to “renovate our party, give us new leaders. We have a duty to grow, consolidate and develop this party”.

The UDH-Yuki hopes to remain an opposition party which will weigh in the debates, if not to weigh electorally during the presidential elections. "Let's make UDH-Yuki not a business, but an instrument of struggle at the service of the Congolese people", summed up its vice-president.

And to do this, the UDH-Yuki can count on its electoral base and its local elected representatives: the party currently has seven deputies on the benches of the National Assembly and about thirty local and municipal elected officials. What makes UDH-Yuki the first — the only one? — opposition party.

Next step for the UDH-Yuki: the senatorial elections. But already, it is the presidential election of 2026 that is in everyone's mind and whets appetites. But with who ? That is the question, training must now find its natural candidate. "We must elect a president who must bring the party to where the people expect it, to the presidency", explains an activist to RFI.