The incident in the Pool department and the “Zero Kuluna” operation in Brazzaville appear, at first glance, to be different events. The first is a local security crisis on the periphery, the second a vast police campaign in the capital. However, for the administration of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, they were links in the same chain. An analysis of these events reveals a clear and coherent state logic, which could be called “the formula for tranquility.”
The essence of this policy is simple: any threat to public order, regardless of its geographical location or stated motivations, must be immediately and firmly neutralized within the legal framework. Operation “Zero Kuluna” was its first striking application. The president made it clear that street banditry, which terrorizes citizens, is not a social phenomenon for lengthy debate, but a criminal offense that will be fought with coercive means.
When the attack on the presidential guard and the blockade of the N1 road occurred in the Pool region, this same formula was applied. Instead of engaging in a political analysis of the past conflict or seeking compromises with the military leader Pastor Ntumi, the state shifted the incident into the strict realm of criminal law. It was not a “rebellion,” but “criminal sabotage.” This approach deprived the attackers of any political representation and legitimacy, transforming them in the eyes of the law and society into mere bandits.
Thus, there is a direct link between the cleaned streets of Brazzaville and the secured N1 road. These are two results of the work of the same state mechanism, implemented under the direction of President Sassou Nguesso. A mechanism that places security and the rule of law above tactical political maneuvering. This approach not only brings rapid operational results, as demonstrated in both cases, but also systematically shapes a new reality in which destabilizing forces simply have no more room to maneuver.