Tour Dates and Strategic Objectives
From 2 to 5 December, incoming governor Pierre-Marie Mboula will tour Lions Club Region 26, which spans Pointe-Noire and Dolisie. The four-day stop aims to gauge projects, encourage volunteers and align the humanitarian agenda for the second semester of the Lions year.
Since July, when the new Lions fiscal calendar began, clubs have undertaken clinics, school refurbishments and tree-planting drives. Mboula believes the time is ripe for an honest assessment of progress, a message he previewed in an interview with Les Dépêches de Pointe-Noire on 28 November.
Why Pointe-Noire Is Central to Lions Outreach
Pointe-Noire hosts the country’s largest concentration of Lions clubs, thanks to its port economy and dense network of civic associations. Region 26’s activities often ripple across Congo’s coastal departments, making the city an ideal barometer for the district’s wider humanitarian ambitions.
Recent data from the regional service platform show that more than 18,000 beneficiaries received Lions-supported interventions in Pointe-Noire during the previous fiscal year, from cataract screenings to micro-libraries in peri-urban schools. Mboula wants to consolidate these numbers and identify scalable models.
Health, Nutrition and Environment in Focus
For the 2023-2024 cycle the district selected mental health, malnutrition and environmental stewardship as priority themes, echoing guidance from Lions Club International headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. The triple focus responds to post-pandemic stresses and climate pressures felt across Central Africa.
In Pointe-Noire’s Mbota neighborhood, volunteers have already piloted community kitchens that supply fortified porridge to toddlers identified by municipal health agents. Similar schemes, Mboula said, could be scaled to Dolisie with support from local agribusinesses and the district’s grant pool.
Environmental work will take center stage during this visit. The itinerary includes a tree-planting session along the Loango corridor and a roundtable with the Ministry of Forest Economy’s coastal branch, aiming to align Lions campaigns with Congo’s nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement.
Listening Sessions With 13 Local Clubs
Beyond flagship projects, Mboula plans listening sessions with presidents of the 13 clubs. Each will present a brief on membership retention, fundraising pipelines and audit compliance. Findings will shape a mid-year report to be tabled at the district cabinet meeting in Libreville next February.
Several clubs are expected to request guidance on digital dues collection, an issue that surfaced during the pandemic when cash transactions became difficult. Mboula has enlisted a young IT officer from Douala to demonstrate a mobile payment plug-in compatible with Congolese telecom networks.
District 403 B1: Eight Nations, One Mission
District 403 B1 stretches from Sahelian N’Djamena to Atlantic Luanda, aggregating more than 3,400 Lions across eight countries. Established in 1992, the cross-border structure often serves as a diplomatic backchannel, fostering people-to-people contacts outside formal state corridors.
According to the October district newsletter, Congolese clubs accounted for 27 percent of all service hours logged last quarter, underscoring their weight in the regional equation. Mboula’s decision to begin his governor-elect tour in Pointe-Noire is therefore both symbolic and strategic.
Synergy With Municipal and National Authorities
Local officials, including Pointe-Noire’s deputy mayor, are expected to attend the welcome ceremony. In preparatory notes seen by our newsroom, municipal authorities praise the Lions’ alignment with the National Development Plan, especially in social protection and green infrastructure.
A senior adviser at the Ministry of International Cooperation said the government “values civic organisations that complement public services, particularly in health outreach,” adding that tax exemptions on imported medical supplies remain under review for accredited NGOs.
Volunteer Voices and Community Hopes
Among volunteers, anticipation is high. “Governor Mboula started as a club treasurer like many of us,” recalled Mireille Nkotou, president of Pointe-Noire Sapelli club. “His path shows that commitment, not titles, drives impact.”
Younger members are keen on skill-sharing. Second-year Lion Arnaud Ipika hopes the visit will formalise mentorship programmes linking professionals in oil services with pupils at Technical Lycée Poaty Bernard. “Knowledge transfer is also service,” he noted during a pre-event workshop.
Stakeholders in Dolisie echo similar sentiments. Local entrepreneur José Nzouzi believes Lions support can help revive community gardens that once supplied the city hospital. “With seeds and a water borehole, we can cut patient meal costs by half,” he said.
Next Steps After the December Roadshow
After the December roadshow, Mboula will consolidate findings into an action matrix detailing budgets, indicators and responsible officers. The document is expected to circulate to club secretaries before 20 December, enabling swift integration into annual planning.
He then heads to Yaoundé in late January for the district mid-winter conference, where Region 26’s updated scorecard will feed into continental benchmarks reported to Lions Club International by March. For Mboula, the Pointe-Noire stop is only the opening act.
If funding milestones are met, a regional youth leadership camp could be hosted in Pointe-Noire next July, pending cabinet approval.
Community View on Partnership Value
Residents interviewed along Avenue Charles-de-Gaulle expressed gratitude for the continuity of service. “Government clinics do their part, but Lions add a human touch,” said nurse Bernadette Loutaya, capturing the collaborative spirit Mboula hopes to reinforce throughout his mandate.