DirectDemocracyS

— National Programme for the —

REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

(Congo-Brazzaville)

Critical analysis of the actual situation · Detailed transformation program · Implementation of the DDS system

2025–2026 Edition · Written in French

directdemocracys.org

FUNDAMENTAL STATEMENT OF DirectDemocracyS

This document is a political, economic, financial, and social program developed by DirectDemocracyS (DDS) for the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville). It is based on a rigorous, factual, and non-partisan analysis of the Congolese reality. DDS is not a traditional political party. It is a system of global direct democracy, founded on logic, common sense, study, reality, truth, consistency, and mutual respect. Its solutions are universal in principle, adapted to each country in their application. Absolute principle: The natural and economic resources, as well as the decision-making power of each country, belong EXCLUSIVELY and PERMANENTLY to the people of that country. No leader, no elite, no foreign power has the right to appropriate what belongs collectively to all citizens. DDS always respects and protects traditions, cultures, languages, religions, oppositions and all minorities in every country of the world.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I — CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT SITUATION

1. General context and key data · 2. Political system: authoritarianism and clientelism · 3. Economy: the oil curse · 4. Public finances and debt · 5. Social situation: poverty, inequality, human rights · 6. Environment, forests and natural resources · 7. Systemic corruption · 8. Foreign policy and dependencies

PART II — DDS PROGRAMME FOR THE CONGO

9. Governance and direct democracy · 10. Diversification economy · 11. Sovereign public finances · 12. Social justice and public services · 13. Environment and natural resources · 14. Culture, languages, religions, and minorities · 15. Sovereign foreign policy · 16. Security and justice

PART III — IMPLEMENTATION OF DirectDemocracyS IN CONGO

17. DDS micro-groups: empowering the people · 18. ddsAI and allddsAI: technology at the service of the people · 19. NTCO: non-transferable collective ownership · 20. Phased roadmap · 21. Expected consequences and tangible benefits

 

PART I

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT SITUATION

1. GENERAL CONTEXT AND KEY DATA

The Republic of the Congo, commonly known as Congo-Brazzaville to distinguish it from the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a Central African state with an area of 342,000 km², a population of approximately 6.1 million in 2024, and an annual population growth rate of 3.2%. Its political capital is Brazzaville, and its economic capital is Pointe-Noire. The country is a member of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) and shares the common currency, the CFA franc (XAF), whose exchange rate is guaranteed by France.

In terms of development indicators, the situation is deeply contradictory: a country rich in natural resources (oil, forests, arable land, hydroelectric potential) yet where the majority of the population lives in poverty. Per capita income was estimated at USD 2,482 in 2024, classifying Congo as a lower-middle-income country, but this average masks extreme inequalities. The Gini coefficient reached 48.9 in 2023, revealing a highly unequal distribution of wealth.

INDICATOR	VALUE / SITUATION (2024-2025)
Population	≈ 6.1 million inhabitants
Nominal GDP	≈ USD 14.9 billion (2024)
GDP per capita	≈ USD 2,482 (2024)
GDP growth rate	2.6% in 2024; 2.8% projected for 2025
Poverty rate	46.8% in 2023 (compared to 33.5% in 2015)
Gini index	48.9 (significant inequality)
HDI (world ranking)	149th out of 192 countries (2022)
Inflation	≈ 3.1% in 2024
Public debt/GDP	94.6% of GDP in 2024
Oil exports	≈ 90% of total exports
Economic freedom (Heritage)	153rd out of 184 (score 48.6/100 in 2025)
Freedom House	"Not free" — score 15/60 civil liberties
Corruption ranking	Among the most corrupt countries in the world

These figures reveal the fundamental paradox of the Congo: a country with considerable natural resources—its total wealth estimated at USD 223 billion (2020), comprised of 40% natural capital, 39% human capital, and 21% produced capital—yet the majority of its population does not benefit from this wealth. Real GDP growth in 2024 did not lead to a significant reduction in the poverty rate, demonstrating the structural failure of a non-redistributive, extractivist development model.

2. POLITICAL SYSTEM: AUTHORITARIANISM, LOCK-IN AND CLIENTELISM

The Republic of Congo is officially a semi-presidential republic. In reality, the country has been governed for more than four decades by Denis Sassou Nguesso, 82 years old at the time of writing this document, who exercised power under the single-party regime from 1979 to 1992, returned to power through a civil war in 1997, and has since systematically locked all the country's institutions in his own favor.

2.1 A democratic facade regime

The 2002 and 2015 constitutions formally provide for a separation of powers, pluralist elections, and an independent judiciary. In practice, all these institutions—the National Assembly, the Senate, the Constitutional Court, the judiciary, the military, and the media—are under the effective control of the president and his inner circle. The 2015 constitutional amendment, which removed the two-term limit for the presidency, perfectly illustrates how the legal system is used to perpetuate a personal regime.

In December 2025, Sassou Nguesso was nominated as the candidate of his party, the Congolese Labour Party (PCT), for the March 2026 presidential election, after 40 years of cumulative power. The PCT holds approximately 74% of the seats in the National Assembly. Independent observers and human rights organizations consistently describe Congolese elections as unfair, marred by electoral fraud and manipulation of the process.

2.2 Systematic repression of the opposition

Political opponents face ongoing repression. General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko and André Okombi Salissa, two leading opposition figures who contested Sassou Nguesso's official victory in 2016, have remained in detention ever since, sentenced to twenty years in prison for "undermining national security" in 2018 and 2019—convictions widely considered to be politically motivated. In March 2023, the authorities banned demonstrations organized by the Republican Movement, citing the risk of public disorder.

A 2024 report by the Center for Action for Development (CAD) documented a marked increase in arbitrary detentions and cases of torture during the first half of 2024 compared to 2023. In May 2024, twenty members of the citizen movement "Ras-le-Bol" were arrested in front of the Pointe-Noire High Court. Civil society operates in an increasingly restricted space, subject to registration requirements with the Ministry of the Interior, constant intimidation, and widespread self-censorship.

2.3 Ethno-regional clientelism

The regime relies on deep ethno-regional divisions, particularly the north-south divide. Public investment in healthcare and basic services has been largely concentrated in the president's home region of Cuvette in the north and in the two major urban centers of Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, leaving outlying areas with extremely limited access to essential services. Hundreds of political parties exist in name only, often organized along ethnic or community lines, but the majority have only a local reach and do not constitute a genuine political alternative.

DDS DIAGNOSIS: Total democratic deficit

Congo-Brazzaville exhibits all the characteristics of an authoritarian regime disguised as a formal democracy: • Power concentrated in a single person for 40 years • State institutions manipulated to benefit the ruling clan • Opposition imprisoned, banned from demonstrating, marginalized • Elections not free and unfair according to independent observers • Civic space systematically reduced • Freedom of the press is practically nonexistent Conclusion DDS: The Congolese people have no real power over their political destiny. This is precisely the situation that DirectDemocracyS is designed to correct—peacefully, intelligently, irreversibly.

3. ECONOMY: THE OIL CURSE AND THE LACK OF DIVERSIFICATION

The Congolese economy is dominated by the oil sector to such an extent that it constitutes a major structural vulnerability. Oil accounts for approximately 90% of exports, 49% of budgetary resources (2025), and the vast majority of foreign exchange earnings. This extreme dependence exposes the country to uncontrollable external shocks—fluctuations in global oil prices, the downward trend in reserves—without successive governments having succeeded in developing viable alternatives.

3.1 Oil production in downward trend

Congolese oil production has been in a state of decline since its peak in the 2000s. In 2024, production fell further due to technical problems, exacerbating budgetary vulnerability. The new floating liquefied natural gas terminal (FLNG Nguya), commissioned by ENI in 2025, increasing capacity to 3 million tons per year, and the adoption of a new Gas Code in 2026 demonstrate an attempt to develop gas resources. However, these initiatives remain rooted in the same extractive logic, without local processing of the raw material or the creation of significant skilled jobs for the Congolese population.

3.2 Agriculture and the private sector: neglected sectors

Agriculture represents only 9% of the Congolese GDP, despite the country's vast arable land and considerable agri-food potential. The Protected Agricultural Zones (PAZ) strategy, mentioned in official documents, has not yet yielded significant results in terms of employment and poverty reduction. The private sector is hampered by corruption, the absence of the rule of law in the economic sphere, poor infrastructure (roads, electricity, water), and an underdeveloped banking system.

The 2.6% growth in 2024 was driven by the primary (6.1%) and secondary (5.9%) sectors, but this improvement has not yet led to a significant reduction in the poverty rate, demonstrating that the benefits of growth are not being redistributed to the population. In fact, the poverty rate increased from 33.5% in 2015 to 46.8% in 2023.

3.3 Deficient Infrastructure

The Congo suffers from chronic power outages that regularly affect entire neighborhoods in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire. Access to drinking water remains insufficient in many rural and peri-urban areas. The road network is in poor condition outside the two major cities. These infrastructural deficiencies constitute a major obstacle to economic development and a direct threat to the daily quality of life of the Congolese people.

4. PUBLIC FINANCES: DEPENDENCE, DEBT AND OPACITY

Congolese public finances exhibit chronic fragility directly linked to oil dependence. The 2025 budget law projects 2,550.7 billion CFA francs (approximately 3.9 billion euros), 49% of which comes from hydrocarbons (1,256 billion CFA francs). Should oil prices fall—a trend that appears structurally inevitable in the long term—the entire budgetary structure is threatened.

Congo's total public debt stood at 94.6% of GDP in 2024 (8,536 billion CFA francs as of December 31, 2024), placing it in a situation of "over-indebtedness" according to the IMF—even though the debt is classified as "sustainable." Debt servicing costs are projected to increase by 47% in the 2025 budget, exceeding half of public revenue at certain times. While the restructuring of 85% of the regional debt in 2024 generated savings, debt servicing remains a major budgetary constraint, depriving essential public services of funding.

China is Congo's largest trading partner (accounting for 36% of oil exports in 2024) and a major creditor. This dependence has direct political implications: in exchange for economic support and diplomatic protection within international bodies (particularly the UN Security Council), the Congolese government has adopted positions aligned with Beijing's on sensitive issues of human rights and regional sovereignty. This asymmetrical relationship deprives Congo of genuine diplomatic independence.

Budgetary transparency is virtually nonexistent. The IMF has explicitly asked Congo to make greater efforts to improve transparency in public finances and the hydrocarbons sector. Reports document the misappropriation of state funds for personal use: in March 2023, the US federal prosecutor's office reported that funds embezzled from state coffers had been used to purchase a luxury apartment in the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York for the president's daughter.

5. SOCIAL SITUATION: POVERTY, INEQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

5.1 Poverty and inequalities

Despite its official status as a "middle-income country," the social reality in the Democratic Republic of Congo is marked by widespread poverty and extreme inequality. The poverty rate reached 46.8% in 2023, an increase of 13 percentage points in just eight years (33.5% in 2015). The Human Development Index (HDI) has been declining since 2015, ranking Congo 149th out of 192 countries. Economic growth, driven primarily by the extractive sector and benefiting mainly elites connected to power, does not reach the majority of the population.

5.2 Health

Access to healthcare is severely inadequate outside the two major cities. Investments in healthcare have been concentrated in the president's home region and urban centers. In June 2023, a shigellosis outbreak affected five districts in the south of the country, causing dozens of deaths, and local authorities were criticized for inadequate crisis management and insufficient medical resources. Cases of COPD were confirmed in 2024. The HIV/AIDS epidemic remains a significant public health challenge in several regions.

5.3 Education

The education system is underfunded and of uneven quality across regions. The Congo's Human Capital Index (HCI), although not directly published by the World Bank for this specific country, remains below regional averages. Education budgets are insufficient and poorly targeted, and vocational training tailored to the actual needs of the labor market is virtually nonexistent. The World Bank explicitly emphasizes the need to increase and better target education budgets.

5.4 Rights of women and indigenous peoples

The situation regarding women's rights remains alarming. Despite the 2022 Mouebara Law on violence against women, victims' access to justice remains extremely limited. Data collected between 2020 and 2022 by Actions de Solidarité Internationale in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire shows that of 332 victims of gender-based violence monitored, only 130 filed a complaint. In February 2024, NGOs raised the alarm about the repression of the indigenous Baka people, whose fundamental rights are systematically violated.

6. ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND NATURAL RESOURCES

The Congo possesses exceptional natural heritage: the Congo Basin is home to the world's second-largest tropical rainforest, an ecosystem of global environmental value. Natural capital represents 40% of the country's estimated total wealth (US$223 billion in 2020). Yet, the management of this heritage is severely deficient.

Deforestation is increasing due to industrial logging, extensive agriculture, and the energy needs of rural populations. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks Congo 117th globally (score of 41.2/100 in 2024) and 15th in Africa—a poor performance for a country whose main asset is precisely its natural capital. The closure in 2023 of a lead recycling plant in Pointe-Noire, after years of operation without an environmental impact assessment, illustrates the weakness of the environmental regulatory framework.

International climate finance (REDD+, green bonds) represents a major opportunity for Congo, but its mobilization requires deep governance and transparency reforms that the current regime is not able or willing to implement.

7. SYSTEMIC CORRUPTION: THE ORGANIZED THEFT OF THE PEOPLE'S WEALTH

Corruption in the Republic of Congo is not a marginal dysfunction: it is an organized system central to maintaining power. The country ranks among the most corrupt in the world according to all international indices. In 2024, President Sassou Nguesso himself announced, in his August state of the nation address, the creation of a High Authority for the Fight Against Corruption—but this initiative is widely interpreted as a tool for repressing political opponents rather than a fundamental reform, given that the president and his inner circle are themselves implicated in the most high-profile scandals.

The documented examples are numerous and serious: state funds used to purchase luxury apartments in New York for members of the presidential family (revealed by the US federal prosecutor's office in March 2023); the president's daughter, Julienne Sassou Nguesso, named in an Investigate Europe report in March 2023 for illegally accessing oil revenues, without any legal proceedings; the 2024 conviction of the former mayor of Brazzaville for corruption—a case considered politically motivated, targeting an opponent rather than the system. The oil sector, in particular, operates in near-total opacity, with contracts whose terms are not made public and revenues whose true destination remains unknown to the Congolese people.

DIRECT CONSEQUENCE for the Congolese

Systemic corruption means, in concrete terms: • Oil revenues that belong to the Congolese people are being captured by a minority • Public services (health, education, water, electricity) are underfunded because funds are being misappropriated. • The poverty rate is increasing (33.5% → 46.8%) while members of the presidential family are buying luxury apartments in New York • The total impunity of the powerful discourages all productive investment and citizen initiatives DirectDemocracyS offers structural solutions that make this corruption impossible, not through promises, but through mechanisms of transparency and citizen control integrated into the system.

8. FOREIGN POLICY: DEPENDENCIES AND LACK OF REAL SOVEREIGNTY

The foreign policy of Congo-Brazzaville is determined by the regime's survival interests rather than the interests of the Congolese people. China has become the country's main trading partner and creditor, a relationship in which Congo occupies the position of remora—benefiting from international diplomatic protection (a veto in the UN Security Council against resolutions critical of the regime) in exchange for systematically aligning itself with Chinese positions, including on human rights issues in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

France maintains a historical relationship with Congo-Brazzaville, but this relationship has long been based on preserving oil and commercial interests rather than promoting democracy. Sassou Nguesso's historical ties to Françafrique networks are well documented. Relations with Russia are also long-standing, inherited from the Marxist-Leninist one-party era.

This foreign policy, based on the survival of the regime, deprives Congo of the capacity to negotiate equitable partnerships, to genuinely defend its interests in international organizations, and to assert itself as a sovereign actor in global economic relations. Congo's natural resources are exploited under conditions determined by foreign powers, with insufficient local benefits.

 

PART II

DDS PROGRAMME FOR THE REPUBLIC OF CONGO

9. GOVERNANCE AND DIRECT DEMOCRACY: RETURNING POWER TO THE CONGOLESE PEOPLE

The fundamental reform that DirectDemocracyS proposes for Congo is not simply to "better manage" the existing system. It is to replace a system of concentrated, opaque, and corruptible power with a system of genuine direct democracy, in which every Congolese citizen can truly participate in decisions that affect them, at all levels: local, regional, and national.

9.1 Constitution and legal framework

DDS proposes the adoption of a new Constitution for Congo, drafted by the entire Congolese people—not by an assembly controlled by the ruling party. This Constitution must: guarantee the absolute equality of all citizens before the law, without ethnic, regional, religious, or gender discrimination; establish a strict and irreversible limit on presidential terms to a maximum of two non-renewable terms; guarantee the total independence of the judiciary; explicitly recognize the inalienable collective ownership of the Congolese people over all the country's natural resources; and integrate mechanisms of direct democracy (referendums initiated by the people, recall of elected officials by the people, and mandatory budget transparency).

9.2 Real Separation of Powers

Congolese institutions exist on paper but are meaningless in reality. DDS proposes a complete institutional reform guaranteeing: a Constitutional Court whose members are elected by the people and not appointed by the president; a Parliament with real oversight powers, with an effective impeachment procedure; a judicial system whose judges are trained, fairly paid, and protected against all political or economic pressure; an independent Court of Auditors with full access to the accounts of the State and the oil sector, and an obligation to publish its reports.

9.3 Freedom of the press and expression

DDS guarantees total freedom of the press and expression as a prerequisite for democracy. This implies: the immediate release of all political prisoners, including Generals Mokoko and Okombi Salissa; the decriminalization of defamation against public figures in their official capacity; the creation of truly independent public media outlets, funded by the state but managed autonomously; and the legal protection of journalists and whistleblowers.

CONCRETE EXAMPLE — Expected effect of institutional reform

Current situation: The Constitutional Court, composed of members appointed by Sassou Nguesso, systematically validates his electoral victories, even in the absence of a complete compilation of the minutes (as in 2016). With DDS: A Constitutional Court whose members are elected by the people through transparent procedures, with a non-renewable term, cannot serve a single individual. Every candidate for a constitutional position is subject to a public evaluation of their qualifications by DDS expert groups and to a citizen vote. As a result, for the first time in 40 years, the Congolese would have institutions that truly represent them and not instruments of personal power.

10. ECONOMY: DIVERSIFICATION, SOVEREIGNTY, AND WEALTH CREATION FOR ALL

DDS's economic program for Congo is based on a fundamental principle: the country's wealth must benefit all Congolese, without exception. This requires a radical break with the extractivist-redistributive model that benefits the elites, and the construction of a diversified, productive, and resilient economy.

10.1 Sovereign renegotiation of oil and gas contracts

All existing oil and gas exploitation contracts must be renegotiated with complete transparency, including full publication of their terms, and in accordance with the interests of the Congolese people. DDS proposes: an independent and public audit of all natural resource exploitation contracts since 1997; a minimum share of 60% of net revenues for the Congolese state in all new contracts; the requirement for local processing of at least 30% of extracted resources (refining, petrochemicals, timber processing), creating skilled jobs for Congolese citizens; and the mandatory participation of Congolese companies with majority Congolese ownership in each exploitation consortium.

A concrete example: ENI's Nguya FLNG plant produces 3 million tons of LNG per year. With an average price of USD 10/MMBtu, the annual revenue is in the range of USD 1.5-2 billion. Under the current system, the share actually going to the Congolese state budget is opaque. DDS demands the publication of all financial flows and guarantees that a minimum of 60% remains in Congo—which would represent an additional USD 900 million to 1.2 billion per year, directly investable in public services.

10.2 Massive agricultural development

The Congo has 10 million hectares of arable land, of which only a fraction is currently cultivated productively. DDS proposes a ten-year agricultural development plan financed by renegotiated oil revenues: creation of 500,000 family farms of 5 to 20 hectares, with secure land titles, provision of quality inputs, technical training, and guaranteed access to agricultural credit at preferential rates; development of 20 regional agro-industrial zones (processing, packaging, export) generating 200,000 skilled industrial jobs; and the objective of food self-sufficiency within five years and exportable surpluses in the cassava, maize, tropical fruit, and cocoa sectors.

10.3 Industry and Added Value

DDS proposes a progressive industrialization program based on existing resources: wood processing industry (furniture, building materials) rather than export of raw logs; light chemical and petrochemical industry valorizing hydrocarbons locally; development of a building materials industry (cement, bricks) using available mineral resources; digital industrialization program (data centers, digital services, digital economy) capitalizing on the strategic geographic position of Congo in Central Africa.

10.4 Tourism and the green economy

The Congo's exceptional natural heritage—rainforests, wildlife, the Congo River, and lowland gorillas—represents considerable untapped tourism potential. DDS proposes the development of high-end, sustainable ecotourism, managed by Congolese operators and local communities, with controlled accommodation capacity to preserve the environment. The goal is to attract 500,000 tourists annually by 2035 (compared to approximately 50,000 currently), generating USD 1 billion in annual revenue distributed locally.

11. SOVEREIGN PUBLIC FINANCES: TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY AND INVESTMENT

11.1 Congolese People's Sovereign Wealth Fund

DDS proposes the creation of a Congolese People's Sovereign Fund (PSSF), managed in a fully transparent manner and controlled by the people through their DDS representatives. This fund receives 40% of all revenues derived from natural resources (oil, gas, mining, forestry), amounting to approximately USD 600-800 million per year at current prices. Its resources are allocated according to strict constitutional rules: 40% to education and health, 30% to infrastructure, 20% to the creation of diversified economic activities, and 10% to future generations (intergenerational fund). All use of the PSSF is published in real time on the ddsAI platform, accessible to all Congolese citizens.

11.2 Debt Reduction and End of Dependency

Congo's public debt (94.6% of GDP in 2024) is an immediate burden. DDS proposes: a full and public audit of all debt contracted since 1997, with publication of the terms and the actual use of borrowed funds; renegotiation of debts whose terms were obtained opaquely or used for unproductive purposes; use of additional revenue from renegotiating oil contracts to accelerate debt reduction; and a goal of reducing the debt to less than 50% of GDP within ten years, without cuts to social services.

11.3 Fair taxation and mobilization of non-oil revenues

The Congolese economy must reduce its fiscal dependence on hydrocarbons. DDS proposes: a tax reform based on real progressivity (the wealthiest pay proportionally more); the elimination of tax exemptions granted to foreign companies exploiting Congolese resources; the fight against tax evasion and tax avoidance with effective and non-selective sanctions; and the simplification of tax procedures for small businesses and Congolese entrepreneurs, thereby stimulating the formal economy. The objective is to double non-oil tax revenues within five years, from the current level to a level representing 60% of total revenue.

12. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SERVICES: INVESTING IN THE CONGOLESE PEOPLE

12.1 Health for all

DDS proposes a five-year health development plan financed by the FSPC: construction of 150 primary health centers in currently unserved rural areas; recruitment and training of 5,000 additional health professionals (doctors, nurses, midwives) with guaranteed decent salaries not subject to embezzlement; universal social protection system guaranteeing free access to primary care for all Congolese; specific program to combat endemic diseases (malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis) with the objective of reducing associated mortality by 70% in ten years.

12.2 Quality Education

DDS proposes an educational revolution: truly free public primary and secondary education, with the provision of textbooks, school meals and uniforms for low-income families; reform of school curricula integrating local Congolese languages as languages of instruction alongside French, valuing the cultures and history of Congo; creation of 50 regional vocational training centers aligned with the real needs of the Congolese economy; target of an adult literacy rate of 95% in ten years.

12.3 Access to water and electricity

DDS proposes a program for universal access to essential services: expansion of the drinking water network to reach 95% of the population within ten years, prioritizing rural and peri-urban areas; development of hydroelectric power—Congo has considerable potential with the rapids of the Congo River—to provide clean, abundant, and affordable electricity; and a rural electrification program using decentralized solar installations for villages far from the main grid. The expected outcome: a drastic reduction in production costs for small businesses, an improved quality of life, and a reduction in inequalities between urban and rural areas.

12.4 Housing and urban planning

DDS proposes a national program for the construction of affordable housing: construction of 100,000 social housing units in ten years in urban areas, with priority given to low-income workers and displaced families; reform of urban land to end real estate speculation in favor of access to property for Congolese families; program for the improvement of informal settlements (sanitation, roads, access to services) without forced evictions, by consulting and involving the communities concerned.

12.5 Protection of the rights of women and minorities

DDS guarantees equal rights for all Congolese women: effective application of legislation on violence against women, with specialized courts, trained police units and accessible shelters in all regions; equal representation in all public institutions; protection of the rights of the indigenous Baka people and other ethnic minorities, including the recognition of their traditional territorial rights and the prohibition of all discrimination.

13. ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES: MANAGING THE PEOPLE'S HERITAGE

The Congolese rainforest and the entire natural heritage of the country are the collective property of the Congolese people for all future generations. DDS proposes an environmental policy based on this absolute principle.

• Immediate moratorium on all new industrial forestry concessions, pending a full audit of existing concessions and the establishment of a transparent regulatory framework.
• Development of international climate finance (REDD+, carbon offsetting mechanisms) with obligation to redistribute income to local forest communities.
• A reforestation program of 500,000 hectares over ten years in degraded areas, creating 50,000 sustainable local jobs.
• Binding environmental legislation with mandatory impact assessments published before any industrial authorization, and effective sanctions in case of violation.
• An independent national environmental agency, with sufficient human and financial resources and strengthening its control over the entire territory, including the most remote areas.
• Renewable energy program: hydroelectricity, solar, biomass — to reduce dependence on hydrocarbons on the domestic market.

Expected consequences: The Congo could receive carbon offset revenues of approximately USD 2 to 5 billion per year if its forest heritage is recognized and fairly compensated by the international community. These revenues, managed by the FSPC and controlled by the people, would constitute a sustainable source of financing for development, independent of hydrocarbons.

14. CULTURE, LANGUAGES, RELIGIONS AND MINORITIES: THE STRENGTH OF CONGOLESE DIVERSITY

The Republic of Congo is a country of great cultural and linguistic richness. It is home to several dozen ethnic groups and languages, the main lingua francas being Lingala (north) and Munukutuba (south), in addition to French, the official language. DDS considers this diversity an asset, not a problem.

• Official recognition of Congolese national languages in the Constitution and their gradual introduction into education and public administration, alongside French.
• Public funding of Congolese culture: music, literature, visual arts, cinema, traditional heritage — with an independent National Cultural Agency with a budget guaranteed by the Constitution (minimum 1% of the State budget).
• Absolute religious freedom, guaranteed in the Constitution, with strict separation of the State and religious organizations, and equal treatment of all faiths.
• Protection of the rights of indigenous peoples (Baka, Aka and others): recognition of their territorial rights, access to public services in respect of their ways of life, representation in the decision-making bodies that concern them.
• Active policy of inter-ethnic and inter-regional reconciliation, ending ethnic clientelism and regional discrimination in access to public services and civil service jobs.

15. SOVEREIGN FOREIGN POLICY: THE INTERESTS OF THE CONGOLESE PEOPLE FIRST

DDS proposes a foreign policy based on a simple and radical principle: the interests of the Congolese people take precedence over all other interests. This implies a break with the regime's survivalist logic that has hitherto defined Congo's international relations.

1. Review of all economic agreements with China, ensuring fair and transparent terms for the Congolese people, and ending the relationship of political dependence.
2. Total independence in voting at international bodies (UN, African Union): Congo votes according to its values and interests, not according to the instructions of its creditors.
3. Strengthening economic cooperation relations with all global partners on a strictly egalitarian and mutually beneficial basis.
4. Active regional policy within CEMAC and the African Union in support of democracy, good governance and equitable regional economic integration.
5. Active international cooperation in the fight against tax evasion and the repatriation of embezzled funds stored abroad by former leaders.

16. SECURITY AND JUSTICE: PROTECTING CITIZENS, NOT POWER

The current Congolese security and judicial system is primarily an instrument for protecting the regime against the people, not for protecting the people from abuses. DDS proposes a radical reform of these institutions.

16.1 Police and security forces reform

Complete professionalization of the national police: recruitment through transparent competitive examinations, training in human rights and legal procedures, decent and regular salaries, and effective civic oversight through an independent authority to monitor law enforcement. An absolute ban and immediate sanctions for all forms of torture, arbitrary detention, or extrajudicial killings. Dissolution of uncontrolled paramilitary units.

16.2 Judicial Reform

Genuine independence of the judiciary: judges are trained, appointed according to transparent criteria of competence, protected from all pressure, and fairly compensated to eliminate judicial corruption. Access to justice for all: free legal aid for low-income citizens, decentralized courts in all regions of the country. Immediate release of all political prisoners and review of all convictions handed down under political pressure.

 

PART III

IMPLEMENTATION OF DirectDemocracyS IN CONGO

17. DDS MICRO-GROUPS: GIVING CONCRETE POWER TO THE CONGOLESE PEOPLE

The central mechanism by which DirectDemocracyS transforms Congolese political reality is the micro-group system. In a country where democracy has been confiscated for decades by an authoritarian regime, DDS micro-groups represent the most effective, peaceful, and intelligent solution for returning real power to the citizens—without any form of violence, coup d'état, or physical confrontation.

17.1 Fractal structure of micro-groups

The DDS system is based on a fractal architecture, in which each Congolese citizen is a member of a basic micro-group of 5 people. These micro-groups gradually aggregate: 5 people → basic group; 5 basic groups = 25 people → neighborhood or village group; 5 neighborhood groups = 125 people → communal group; 5 communal groups = 625 people → district group. This structure covers the entire Congolese territory, from the largest cities to the most isolated villages.

Within each microgroup, all members are equal. Decisions are made collectively, based on comprehensive and verified information provided by ddsAI and allddsAI technologies. Each group includes specialists in relevant fields (economics, health, education, environment, etc.) who contribute their expertise to the collective decision-making process. There is no permanent leader: responsibilities are rotating, meritocratic, and can be revoked at any time by the group.

17.2 How microgroups function in Congo — a case study

Imagine a working-class neighborhood in Brazzaville, like Bacongo or Makélékélé, where access to drinking water is insufficient and power outages are a daily occurrence. Under the current system, residents have no decision-making power: they can demonstrate (at the risk of being arrested) or submit petitions that are ignored. With the DDS micro-groups:

6. Residents form micro-neighborhood groups of 5 to 25 people, accessible to all without discrimination.
7. Each micro-group accesses the ddsAI platform which provides them with precise data: cost of connection to the water network, available technical capacities, similar experiences in other countries, budget required.
8. Neighbourhood groups deliberate and formulate a concrete proposal (e.g., installation of a 500,000 FCFA solar pumping network serving 200 families).
9. The proposal goes up, via the fractal structure, to the communal level and then to the municipal level, with validation by a qualified majority of the micro-groups concerned.
10. If the project is approved by the community, it is funded by the FSPC with transparent monitoring of its execution, visible in real time on the DDS platform.

This process — which can be replicated for any public decision — is revolutionary in the Congolese context: for the first time, citizens are actually making decisions that concern them, without depending on the goodwill of a neighborhood leader appointed by the ruling party.

17.3 Security and confidentiality in an authoritarian context

DDS recognizes that Congo-Brazzaville is a regime that represses its opponents and monitors its citizens. The establishment of DDS microgroups is designed to be secure even in this challenging environment. Members' identities are protected by the DDS triple-code system (identity code, member code, verification code), which allows each citizen to participate safely without risking identification by the authorities. DDS platforms are designed to resist censorship and surveillance, using military-grade encryption protocols. Groups can operate offline in areas with low connectivity, with delayed data synchronization.

MESSAGE TO CONGOLESE PEOPLE LIVING UNDER AN AUTHORITARIAN REGIME

DirectDemocracyS offers you the opportunity to reclaim the power that belongs to you — peacefully, intelligently, without violence, without unnecessary risk. You don't need to demonstrate in the streets (which exposes you to repression). You don't need to create a political party (which would be immediately banned). You don't need to confront the police (which would only strengthen the regime). You need to organize yourselves into small, trusting groups (5 people), access true and unmanipulated information, make collective decisions, and gradually build a credible and functional alternative. That's exactly what DDS allows you to do. Direct democracy is not won through violence — it is built through organization, competence, and solidarity.

18. ddsAI AND allddsAI: TECHNOLOGY AT THE SERVICE OF THE CONGOLESE PEOPLE

DirectDemocracyS integrates two artificial intelligence technology systems that are essential pillars of its democratic functioning: ddsAI and allddsAI. These systems are not tools for surveillance or control—they are instruments serving citizen information, collective competence, and total transparency.

18.1 ddsAI — Citizen Artificial Intelligence

ddsAI is DirectDemocracyS's internal artificial intelligence system, accessible to all members via the DDS platform. For Congolese people, ddsAI fulfills several vital functions in their specific context.

• Comprehensive and unbiased information: ddsAI provides each member with factual, verified, and unbiased information on all matters of collective decision-making—state budget, oil contracts, human rights situation, commodity prices, and successful experiences in other countries. In a context of regime-controlled media, this access to independent information is revolutionary.
• Training and skills: ddsAI trains microgroup members in their fields of activity and interest — agriculture, accounting, health, law, education — enabling them to develop the skills needed to participate intelligently in decisions that concern them.
• Budget transparency: ddsAI publishes in real time the state of Congolese public finances, oil revenue flows, public spending by sector and by region, making corruption structurally difficult.
• Translation and accessibility: ddsAI is available in French, Lingala, Munukutuba and the main Congolese languages, ensuring accessibility to all citizens regardless of their level of formal education.

18.2 allddsAI — The democracy of artificial intelligences

allddsAI is the coordination system between the different artificial intelligence instances within DirectDemocracyS. Unlike a single, centralized AI — which could be biased or controlled — allddsAI is a decentralized network of artificial intelligences that check each other, guaranteeing the neutrality, accuracy, and independence of the information provided to members.

For Congolese people, allddsAI represents a guarantee that the information they receive is not manipulated by any particular interest—whether it be the Congolese government, a foreign power, or an economic actor. In a country where the media is state-controlled and propaganda is constant, access to a truly neutral and independent source of information represents a fundamental shift.

18.3 Protection against manipulation and brainwashing

DDS platforms are designed to protect their members against all forms of media and political manipulation. In the Congolese context, this means, in concrete terms: automatic filtering of disinformation and propaganda; identification of biased information sources with explanations of their biases; systematic provision of multiple and contradictory perspectives on each decision-making issue; and access to verified international sources to compare the Congolese situation with documented realities elsewhere.

19. NTCO: NON-TRANSFERABLE COLLECTIVE PROPERTY — WEALTH REMAINS WITH THE PEOPLE

NTCO (Non-Transferable Collective Ownership) is DirectDemocracyS' central legal and organizational mechanism to ensure that the wealth of Congo remains permanently with the Congolese people.

The principle is simple and radical: the natural resources, critical infrastructure, and essential public services of the Congo are defined in the Constitution as the collective property of the Congolese people, non-transferable, non-privatizable, and inalienable. No government, no parliamentary majority, no referendum can cede this property to private or foreign interests.

Specifically for Congo, the NTCO applies to: all oil, gas and mineral resources in the Congolese subsoil (foreign companies can obtain exploitation contracts, but not ownership of the resources); the national forest heritage; water resources (Congo River, Ubangi, Sangha and their tributaries); agricultural land (which can be given in long-term concession but not sold to foreign actors); water, electricity, health and education infrastructure financed with public funds.

The NTCO is managed by the people through their elected representatives in the DDS micro-groups, with full transparency ensured by ddsAI. Any attempt to circumvent this mechanism—through legislative, executive, or judicial means—constitutes a crime against the Congolese people and is punished accordingly.

20. PHASED ROADMAP: REALISTIC AND PROGRESSIVE IMPLEMENTATION

PHASE	PRIORITY ACTIONS / OBJECTIVES
PHASE 0 Preparation (Months 1-6)	• Creation of the first DDS micro-groups in major cities (Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire) • Training of founding members in DDS tools • Deployment of the ddsAI platform in French and local languages • Citizen information and awareness-raising • Establishment of a legal framework for DDS action
PHASE 1 Expansion (Months 6-18)	• Expansion of micro-groups to all 12 departments of Congo • Enrollment of 100,000 active members • First local referendums on concrete issues (water, electricity, education) • Formation of specialist teams in each key area • Documented citizen pressure for budget transparency
PHASE 2 Consolidation (Months 18-36)	• Base of 500,000 active members (≈ 8% of the adult population) • Public presentation of the DDS Congo program as a credible political alternative • Participation in local elections with trained and vetted DDS candidates • Publication of the first citizen audit reports of public finances • Coordinated international pressure for free and fair elections
PHASE 3 Transformation (Months 36-60)	• Participation in legislative and presidential elections • If electoral victory: implementation of the economic program (FSPC, contract renegotiation) • Constitutional reform by popular referendum • Full deployment of the NTCO • Start of the agricultural development and industrialization plan
PHASE 4 Consolidation (Years 5-10)	• Poverty rate reduced to less than 20% • Public debt reduced to less than 60% of GDP • Economic diversification: oil < 50% of revenue • Universal access to water and electricity • Congo: a model of direct democracy in Central Africa

21. EXPECTED CONSEQUENCES AND CONCRETE BENEFITS FOR THE CONGOLESE PEOPLE

The transformations proposed by DirectDemocracyS for Congo are not abstract promises. They are based on concrete mechanisms, real examples from other countries, and realistic calculations based on current data.

DOMAIN	CURRENT SITUATION → 10-YEAR GOAL
Poverty	46.8% (2023) → Target < 20%
Access to drinking water	Insufficient → 95% of the population
Electricity	Chronic power outages → Stable 24/7 power supply
Public debt/GDP	94.6% (2024) → < 60%
Oil revenues for the State	Opaque / insufficient → 60% minimum, published in real time
Economic diversification	Oil: 90% exports → < 50%
Adult literacy	< 80% → 95%
Corruption (perception)	Among the world's worst → Drastic reduction
Civil Liberty (Freedom House)	"Not free" → "Free"
Revenue from ecotourism	≈ 50,000 tourists/year → 500,000 tourists/year, 1 billion USD

These goals are ambitious but realistic. By comparison, Rwanda—which was in a catastrophic situation in 1994—reduced its poverty rate from 78 percent in 1994 to less than 40 percent in 2020 through reformed governance and targeted investments in agriculture and human capital, without possessing the oil and forest resources of the Congo. Botswana has successfully transformed its diamond revenues into real human development. These examples demonstrate that transformation is possible—but that it requires fundamentally different governance from that which the Congo has experienced since 1997.

The fundamental difference proposed by DDS is that these results would not be the product of the goodwill of a leader or a government, but of structural mechanisms that make good governance mandatory: total transparency, permanent citizen oversight, direct participation in all decisions, and collective ownership of resources. It is a system in which it is structurally impossible for an individual or group to appropriate what belongs to the people.

CONCLUSION — The Congo belongs to the Congolese

The Republic of Congo is a rich country—extraordinarily rich in natural resources, human capital, cultural heritage, and economic potential. Its total wealth is estimated at USD 223 billion. And yet, 46.8% of its inhabitants lived in poverty in 2023. This is not inevitable. It is the result of a political system that has confiscated the wealth of the Congolese people for the benefit of a tiny minority for more than 40 years. DirectDemocracyS offers the Congolese not just another promise, but a system — a system designed to be irreversible, to make corruption structurally impossible, to guarantee that decisions are made by the people and for them. This program is an invitation. An invitation to reclaim what belongs to you — peacefully, intelligently, together. The Congo belongs to the Congolese. It's time that this is reflected in their daily lives. directdemocracys.org — Join us.

DirectDemocracyS · National Program · Republic of Congo · 2025–2026

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