Bernard Combo-Matsiona (17 December 1939 – 28 March 2012) was an agronomist, politician, cabinet minister, president of the National Assembly and senator of the Republic of Congo.
« Sénat : Décès, à Paris, de Bernard Combo Matsiona »
''La Semaine africaine'', 3 avril 2012
Early years
Bernard Combo-Matsiona was born of 17 December 1939 in Poto-Poto, Brazzaville
Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...
, French Equatorial Africa.
He was educated in Poto-Poto at the Saint-Vincent A et B primary schools between 1946 and 1852, where he earned a certificate of primary and elementary studies.
He then studied at the Chaminade Secondary School in Brazzaville from 1954 to 1958.
Combo Matsiona entered the agricultural school in Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot
Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot (, literally ''Sainte-Livrade on Lot''; Languedocien: ''Senta Liurada'') is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.
Geography
Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot is located along the banks of the river L ...
in Lot-et-Garonne
Lot-et-Garonne (, ) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.[baccalauréat
The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...]
'' in 1963.
That year he was admitted to the Institut Supérieur Agricole in Paris.
He graduated in 1966 with as an agricultural works engineer (''Ingénieur des Travaux Agricoles'').
Political activism
In parallel with his studies, Combo Matsiona was intensely active in politics.
In 1963 he joined the Association of Congolese Students (''Association des Étudiants Congolais'': AEC) in France, where he became the Executive Secretary, in charge of external relations.
In this role he participated from 29 June to 2 July 1964 in the Founding Congress of the National Movement of the Revolution
The National Movement of the Revolution (, abbreviated MNR) was a political party in the Republic of the Congo. MNR was founded at a congress held June 29 to July 6, 1964. MNR was instituted as the sole legal political party in the country on July ...
(MNR).
Combo Matsiona returned to France after the congress for a professional internship at the National Institute of Agronomy and at the Center for Tropical Agronomy Studies until in 1967.
At the age of 28 Combo Matsiona returned to the Congo in November 1967.
In 1968, he was appointed Regional Director of Agriculture for Pool Department
Pool () is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department of the Republic of the Congo in the southeastern part of the country. It borders the departments of Bouenza Department, Bouenza, Lékoumou Department, Lékoumou, and Plateaux Depar ...
and Political Commissioner for Camp Lumumba of the National Civil Defense Corps.
A year later he held the position of director of the rural renewal action (''Action de rénovation rurale'': ARR) and in July 1969 became the first President of the Congolese Socialist Youth Union
The Congolese Socialist Youth Union (, UJSC) was the youth wing of the Congolese Party of Labour (PCT). From 1969 to 1992, it played a major role in disciplining youth party activists and building up their character with Marxist-Leninist ideas.
U ...
(''Union de la Jeunesse Socialiste Congolaise'': UJSC) at the end of the constitutive congress.
From 29–31 December 1969 he participated in the Constitutive Congress of the Congolese Party of Labour
The Congolese Party of Labour (, PCT) is the ruling party of the Republic of the Congo. Founded in 1969 by Marien Ngouabi, it was originally a pro-Soviet, Marxist–Leninist vanguard party which founded the People's Republic of the Congo. It to ...
(''Parti Congolais du Travail '': PCT) and was elected substitute member of the Central Committee.
At the end of the Extraordinary PCT Congress, in 1970 he became a full member of the PCT Central Committee
In 1975, he was appointed Director of Studies and Planning at the General Directorate of Agriculture, a position he held until 1979, when he was appointed Director General of the Coffee and Cocoa Office (''Office du Café et du Cacao'': O.C.C).
Government career
Combo Matsiona began his government career in 1981 at the age of 42.
As Minister of Labor, Civil Service and Social Welfare from 1981 to 1987 he was involved in setting up mechanisms that could ensure good social security for workers.
He was one of the initiators of the law establishing the Congolese Family Code.
As Minister of Health and Social Affairs from 1987 to 1989, it was under his authority that the General Hospital was transformed into the Brazzaville University Hospital Center (CHUB).
Combo Matsiona became President of the National Assembly at the age of 50, holding office from 1989 to 1991.
In this position he took part in the Sovereign National Conference of 1991.
With the introduction of multi-party politics in the Congo, he joined Bernard Kolélas
Bernard Bakana Kolélas (12 June 1933Alain Kounzilat, , Kimpwanza (planeteafrique.com) . – 13 November 2009Thierry Noungou"Parlement - Bernard Bakana Kolélas décédé ce 13 novembre à Paris", ''Les Dépêches de Brazzaville'', 13 November ...
and the Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development
The Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development (; MCDDI) is a Liberalism, liberal political party in the Republic of the Congo, led by Bernard Kolélas until his death in 2009. His son, Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas, has led the party ...
(MCDDI) in 1992.
He was appointed political advisor to the founding president of MCDDI.
He took an active part in the merger of the PCT with the URD and therefore in the creation of the URD-PCT.
In 2006 he was promoted to member of the National Executive Board of MCDDI.
Bernard Combo Matsiona was elected senator of the MCDDI in 2009, following the by-election organized in the Pool Department
Pool () is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department of the Republic of the Congo in the southeastern part of the country. It borders the departments of Bouenza Department, Bouenza, Lékoumou Department, Lékoumou, and Plateaux Depar ...
.
He joined the Education, Culture, Science and Technology commission in which he worked until his last days.
He died in his second year of office, leaving a family eight children.
Notes
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Combo-Matsiona, Bernard
1939 births
2012 deaths
Members of the Senate (Republic of the Congo)
Presidents of the National Assembly (Republic of the Congo)
Government ministers of the Republic of the Congo