Bruno Ossébi

On January 21, 2009, two fires broke out 6,000 km away from each other in two different Franco-Congolese journalist’s homes. Bruno Ossébi in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, and Benjamin Toungamani in France. Both journalists, Ossébi included, were plaintiff’s in an “ill-gotten gains” complaint filed weeks before. Ossébi and Toungamani both heavily criticized Denis Sassou Nguesso’s authoritarianism, and his lavish lifestyle at the expense of the Congolese people. Ossébi was able to escape the home, but died in a military hospital twelve days later.

Ossébi was an activist throughout his career. He wrote for Mwinda, and also created a personal blog (bruno-ossbi.novoblog.com). He began writing for Mwinda when President Denis Sassou-Nguesso came to power in the early 1990s. Ossébi sought to condemn the plundering of oil, timber, and violations of human rights in the Republic of Congo. He was also active in the StAR program of the World Bank, and active with the United Nations program that recovers misappropriated African assets. Ossébi spent two years working with lawyers, activists, and citizens to develop a court complaint against President Sassou Nguesso, President of Gabon Omar Bongo, and President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang, accusing them of "misappropriation of public funds".

Bruno Jacquet Ossébi, also known as Bruno Jacquet or Ossébi (December 10, 1964 – February 2, 2009), was a Franco-Congolese journalist for the online news site Mwinda. Ossébi was working to expose government corruption when a mysterious fire broke out in his home. He sustained fatal injuries, and died in a military hospital in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo twelve days later.

Bruno Ossébi was born in France, and originally given the name Bruno Jacquet. He was born on December 10, 1964 to a French father and a Congolese mother. He moved to the Republic of Congo in the early 1990s to pursue a career in blogging and journalism. He began writing for the Congolese web site Mwinda about hot-button political issues. Ossébi was thought to be protected as a French citizen, and cousin of several barons; however, he received several threats throughout his career. Ossébi was not married, but lived with his girlfriend and her two children. They also died in the house fire that killed Ossébi.