Brazzaville pays last respects to a storied veteran
A sharp December sunlight bathed the stele of the Anciens Enfants de Troupe when the funeral cortège of Lieutenant-Colonel (ret.) Ernest “La Graine” Lekana arrived. The ceremony, held on 3 December, was the culmination of a fortnight of national mourning that began with his passing on 17 November 2025 in Brazzaville after a short illness. Representatives of every generation of the Association des Anciens Enfants de Troupe (AET) filed forward in strict order of seniority, saluting the flag-draped coffin before it continued to the Bouka cemetery for interment. The sober pageantry reflected a consensus across the Republic of Congo’s civil and military institutions: the last member of the fabled Serge Krochant promotion deserved honours commensurate with a life spent in uniform.
Roots in Ewo and the forging of “La Graine”
Born in 1939 in Létoumbou, Ewo district, Cuvette-Ouest, Ernest Lekana cultivated discipline early. Primary school success at Fort-Rousset earned him entry in 1953 to the École militaire préparatoire général Leclerc—then still the École indigène d’Enfants de Troupe of AEF-Cameroun. There, under matricule 156, he shared dormitories with future heads of state Marien Ngouabi and Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango. Peers affectionately nicknamed him “La Graine”, a seed that would germinate through perseverance. Graduating in 1957, he was dispatched to the Bouar Instruction Centre in Oubangui-Chari, obtaining the coveted Certificat d’Aptitude Technique n° 2 the same year. These formative chapters, repeatedly cited by fellow AETs during the funeral oration, illustrate the meritocratic avenues available in the late-colonial military education system and the bonds it forged across post-independence elites.
From Algerian battle lines to the Congolese Gendarmerie
Freshly promoted sergeant in 1958, Lekana was posted to the 65ᵉ Régiment d’Infanterie de Marine in Algeria at the height of the war. The baptism of fire honed ‘field intuition’, recalled a contemporary officer attending the Brazzaville service. In July 1959 he paraded on the Champs-Élysées during France’s national day, an experience that, according to family members, reinforced his sense of ceremonial exactitude displayed lifelong. Returning to the nascent Congolese army in August 1961, he transitioned to the Gendarmerie, qualifying during one of its earliest non-commissioned officers’ courses. Promotions followed the tempo of national consolidation: sous-lieutenant in 1975, lieutenant in 1977, captain in 1981, commandant in 1986 and finally lieutenant-colonel in 1991. Each stripe, colleagues say, was earned by a blend of technical competence and an unassuming probity that made him a model trainer for younger corps.
Custodian of memory at the ONAC-VG
The culmination of Lekana’s commitment came in 2024 with his appointment as president of the National Office for Veterans and War Victims (ONAC-VG). For many observers, the nomination by presidential decree was both a recognition of institutional memory and a pragmatic gesture: few knew better the administrative labyrinth confronting ageing servicemen. During his brief tenure he prioritised digitising pension records and widening psychological support for former combatants, initiatives applauded by defence analysts tracking veteran welfare in Central Africa. The final homage preceding his burial, organised at the Foyer des Anciens Combattants in Bacongo under the patronage of Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Guy-Blanchard Okoï, underscored the Office’s growing role as a civic bridge between the military and wider society.
Symbols, medals and a nation’s gratitude
Speakers at the stele underlined Lekana’s decorations—national orders, foreign citations and campaign medals amassed from colonial campaigns to peace-time service. Yet the most resonant symbol of the day was generational continuity. In attendance stood his son, Colonel Willy Lekana, himself an AET alumnus of the Gérard Neddy Ndounga promotion, embodying the transmission of values lauded by Secretary-General-Adjoint Serge Eugène Ghoma Boubanga in his eulogy. The presence of AET patriarch Félix Mouzabakani, matricule 47, further reinforced a lineage stretching back to the school’s second intake in 1948. Together, these veterans formed a living archive, situating Lekana not merely as an individual but as a chapter in a collective narrative of service that parallels Congo-Brazzaville’s own statehood trajectory.
Lessons in resilience for contemporary Congo
As the bugler’s last note faded over Bouka cemetery, mourners lingered on the leitmotif of Lekana’s biography: resilience. His path—from rural classroom to international battlefronts, from colonial sergeant to director of a national institution—mirrored the broader Congolese experience of adaptation amid shifting political landscapes. Historians present stressed that such stories challenge younger citizens to view nation-building as a relay rather than a sudden sprint. By all accounts, the lieutenant-colonel’s humility remained intact until his final days. A family acquaintance recounted that, even after assuming the ONAC-VG portfolio, he often arrived at work ahead of his staff to review correspondence personally. That ethos, colleagues hope, will endure in administrative reforms now under consideration within the veterans’ office.
An enduring seed in the national soil
At sunset, as soil covered the coffin, AET members whispered the school’s motto: ‘Travail, Discipline, Honneur’. It is fitting that a man called “La Graine” should return to earth under those words. With his passing, the Serge Krochant promotion becomes memory, yet its final representative leaves a living charter of civic virtues. In the words of Association president Rémy Ayayos Ikounga, spoken beside the grave, “We do not merely lose a comrade; we inherit a standard.” In a Republic looking ahead to new development milestones, the measured patriotism of Ernest Lekana offers a quiet, steadfast template for service—proof that even the smallest seed, once planted in fertile national soil, can shade generations to come.
