By Eloge Kaneza and Mado Mai |Translation by Kathreen Harrison
The Congolese Community of Maine (COCOMaine) has a new president, Patrick Mulonda, who was elected November 9.
The election was contested by his predecessor, Mardochée Mbongi, who claims the election went forward even though 500 members of COCOMAINE had signed a document asking to postpone elections to allow for a transition period. The objective of the transition period would have been to develop regulations for the association in keeping with those generally governing U.S. non-profits. Mbongi described the election process as « irregular, rigid, minority, and partial. »
Patrick Mulonda, The current president of COCOMAINE
“There was an election imposed against the majority, including the 500 and more people who signed the petition, who did not want there to be elections in this context of deliberate crisis – so that a reform could be made in the governance of the Congolese community of Maine,” lamented Mardochée Mbongi in an interview with Amjambo Africa.
Mbongi shared with Amjambo Africa a list of 500 individuals who had signed the petition in favor of postponing the November 9, 2024 elections, but our editorial team was not able to verify all the identities of the people mentioned on the said petition. As the head of COCOMaine since September 2022, Mbongi admits that his mandate to lead ended in September 2024. However, he speaks of reforms that he had initiated, and which he believes should have been implemented by his team during a transition period, before the holding of elections.
Mardochee Mbongi, former president of COCOMAINE
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The other point of view
Patrick Kambu Mbenza, chairman of the board of directors which oversaw all the activities that led to the installation of the new president, says the entire process was transparent. He criticizes the former president for wanting to stay at the head of COCOMaine indefinitely.
“We approached him several times to tell him that in the United States things don’t happen like that – the council has its role (to play). When he realized he was wrong, he started saying that the council didn’t exist. We had a president who has never reported for a single moment everything he [did]. We had no financial report, no activity report during his entire mandate,” accuses Patrick Kambu Mbenza.
And to drive the point home Mbenza added: “We don’t know the real state of the community. It has never organized a general meeting each year as required by the by laws. He did everything according to his [ideas], in his own way.”
Before the election, Mbenza criticized Mbongi for having pulled out as a candidate after a commission of six people decided to organize what Mbenza refers to as an “inclusive” election.
Community first
Mbongi insists that the interests of the community must prevail over those of individuals: “The community at this level should be led by one person, not two people. This is … what forces me now to step aside for the benefit of the one who was elected against our will, precisely because we do not want there to be an impasse which is destructive…” He said that [by stepping aside] COCOMaine will avoid being split into two or three associations.
“I am ensuring that the Congolese community of Maine as an association, as an organization, remains united,” insisted Mardochée Mbongi, who added that (by withdrawing his candidacy) “ …we refused to allow there to be a fraction of the community. The community must remain united, one and indivisible.”
Mordochée Mbongi says his successor has honest ambitions to serve the community. He describes Patrick Mulonda as “a compatriot who has a good image, but who was elected in a bad context.”
Mbongi and Mulonda are already talking to each other, and the first said he has submitted his resignation, since he does not recognize the election which brought the second to his former seat.
The chairman of the board of directors, also criticized by Mardochée Mbongi, confirmed to Amjambo Africa that the two men are talking to each other. Mbongi did not seek a second term, however according to the bylaws of the organization, he could have done so.
Inaugurations
Patrick Mulonda, the new president of the Congolese Community of Maine (COCOMAINE), took office on Saturday, December 14, 2024. The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place in the city of Portland. “We celebrate the triumph not of a candidate or a clan but of a cause, that of democracy….” said Mr. Mulonda during a ceremony also rich in cultural songs and dances of the DRC. He added: “The will of the majority of the Congolese people of Maine has been heard and taken into account since November 9, 2024.”
Earlier before his official assumption of office, the new boss of COCOMAINE said to Amjambo Africa on the phone that the handover ceremony and resumption “in a peaceful climate”, is the result of a one-month transition period during which his opponent’s camp and his team discussed with the help of mediators. Mardochee Mbongi participated in the handover ceremony
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