Former President Pascal Lissouba of Congo-Brazaville died early in the morning this Monday on August 24 at the age of 88.
The family of the former Congolese president confirmed the news of Lissouba’s demise on Monday.
His wife, Jocelyne, and his son, MP Jérémie Lissouba, were at his side in Perpignan, southern France.
Democratically elected in 1992 and overthrown in October 1997 by Denis Sassou Nguesso during the Congolese civil war, Pascal Lissouba, had settled in France after exile in London.
Denis Sassou Nguesso had lost the country’s first multi-party elections in 1992.
Nguesso, who led the civil war, returned to power with the support of Angolan troops after a five-month conflict that claimed between 4,000 and 10,000 lives.
In recent years, his health has deteriorated. He suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and was no longer able to participate in political activities.
His death was also confirmed on Facebook by his son Jeremie Lissouba, who is also a lawmaker.
Born in Tsinguidi, in the southwest of the country, Lissouba studied agricultural engineering, gaining a doctorate in France in the late 1950s during the final years of colonial rule.
In the 1960s, he became minister of agriculture in the newly-independent country before serving as prime minister under the then president, Alphonse Massamba-Debat.
In 1991, Lissouba set up UPADS as international pressure pushed Sassou Nguesso, a French-trained paratrooper who came to power in 1979, to organise a multi-party vote.
