The municipal councilors of Dolisie, in the Niari department, expressed their gratitude for the numerous actions taken over the past two decades by Colonel Major Rémy Ayayos Ikounga for the benefit of this city and its citizens, by voting on a resolution making him an honorary citizen of this third-largest city in Congo.
The grateful city of Dolisie paid a vibrant tribute to the philanthropic officer of the Congolese Armed Forces, Rémy Ayayos Ikounga, whose works speak for themselves. The dominance of the Niari Fauves over Congolese football for nearly ten years between 2009 and 2015 left an indelible mark.
Under his leadership, the Athletic Club Léopards of Dolisie filled their trophy cabinet by winning four Congolese champion titles (2012, 2013, 2016, and 2017), reigning supreme between 2012 and 2017 before securing a fifth title in 2024. The record would have been more substantial if the 2014 and 2015 championships, during which the Léopards were far ahead, had not stopped after the first half of the season. The Niari Fauves also won the Congo Cup against the country’s top teams in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2016, and 2017.
But history will remember his chronic and incorrigible optimism. Thirty-eight years after the Club Athlétique Renaissance Aiglons triumphed in the African Cup of Champions Clubs (1974), the Niari Fauves took on the immense challenge of winning the 9th CAF Confederation Cup, in Dolisie, against Djoliba AC of Mali. They, along with the Aiglons, are the only Congolese clubs to wear a star above their logo, symbolizing the victories won in 1974 and 2012.
Dolisie, Epicenter of African Football
During this period, Dolisie became both the epicenter of national and African football. Supporters and all fans of Congolese and even African football traveled to Dolisie whenever the Léopards played on the pitch of the current Paul-Sayal-Moukila stadium.
A successful bet to make Dolisie known. It is also thanks to the performances of the Niari Fauves that Congo earned two additional spots in African competitions. The Léopards were the most consistent Congolese club in the group stages between 2011 and 2015, the only one to play the group stage of the Champions League under its new format.
It was in Dolisie, “the impregnable citadel,” that the local Red Devils qualified for the first time for the final phase of the African Nations Championship in 2014 in South Africa, by eliminating the Leopards of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rémy Ayayos Ikounga played a major role in organizing this return match.
Already revered by almost all social strata of Dolisie, he further distinguished himself through multifaceted aid to young people, single mothers, vulnerable persons, health structures, and national education.
The arrival in Dolisie of French and Congolese doctors based in France for a vast healthcare campaign “Health for All Dolisie,” entirely funded by Rémy Ayayos Ikounga, saved the lives of many people from the Niari department and neighboring departments such as Lékoumou, Bouenza, and Kouilou.
The people of Dolisie still remember it.