Submit your comment
By Karyn Maughan and Sibusiso Ngalwa
Congo-Brazzaville President Denis Sassou-Nguesso is insisting on the retraction of a Nelson Mandela Foundation statement condemning his alleged "brazen abuse" of Mandela's name.
But, as Sassou-Nguesso's lawyers put his demand in writing to the foundation, publishers of his book - in which he used fragments of an alleged Mandela speech as a foreword - were begging the organisation for forgiveness.
In a letter sent earlier this week, the US-based law firm representing Sassou- Nguesso insisted that he was entitled to a retraction, because the disputed foreword was comprised of a "historically accurate speech" that Mandela had given at a banquet at his then official Tuynhuys residence in Cape Town in 1996.
Continues Below ↓
| '... misuse of former president Mandela's name will no longer be tolerated' |
At the time of this alleged banquet, Sassou-Nguesso, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, was no longer in power. After taking control of Congo-Brazzaville in 1979 in a technical coup, he lost power in 1992 and went into exile in France.
He regained power in 1997 and recently won another re-election in July this year.
The foreword to the book, published by Michel Lafon and Africa World Press, quotes Mandela as saying: "In President Denis Sassou-Nguesso I recognise a man who is not only one of our great African leaders, but also one of those who gave their unconditional support to our fighters' demand for freedom, and who worked tirelessly to free oppressed peoples from their chains and help restore their dignity and hope."
Nelson Mandela Foundation chief executive Verne Harris yesterday stressed that the organisation, while unable to find the alleged Mandela speech in its archive, was not contesting that such an address may have taken place.
Instead, he said, its concern lay with the fact that Mandela's words had been presented as "an apparent endorsement of the content" of Sassou-Nguesso's book.
| 'Mandela is no longer the president of the country' |
Pointing out that over the past 18 months Mandela had declined requests from his close friends Kader Asmal and Ahmed Kathrada to write forewords for their books, Harris said the foundation wanted to "send a message that the misuse of former president Mandela's name will no longer be tolerated".
Asked about what possible legal steps the foundation would take, Harris said: "We have advised our lawyers to look at our options... At the very least, we will ask that former president Mandela's name not form any part of the marketing for this book.
"We will also ask that the former president's name be removed from the cover of any future publications of the book."
The foundation's lawyers were due to meet today to plot their future legal strategy.
In a letter to the foundation, the publishers of Sassou-Nguesso's Straight Speaking for Africa said they were "extremely saddened and shocked" by revelations that Mandela had not agreed to the use of his words as a foreword for the book.
The publishers claimed they had received assurances from a go-between between themselves and Sassou-Nguesso that the use of Mandela's words had indeed been authorised.
Meanwhile, the South African government has chosen to keep out of the spat, fearing that the stand-off could affect ties between the two countries.
"These things could affect the relations between the two countries. Mandela is no longer the president of the country, so we can't risk relations because of that," a government source said.
It is understood that Sassou-Nguesso is scheduled to travel to South Africa on a state visit before the end of this year.
Part of his visit would see the two countries signing off on a lucrative deal that would see South African farmers given access to about 8 million hectares of land in Congo.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on October 23, 2009
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
