The elected official from the North, elected this Wednesday January 8 as head of government, has made a career in the mining sector. Politics is a family tradition among the Pongas.
Aged 49, father of three children, the mayor of Kouaoua comes from a non-independence Kanak family. He is the son of Léontine Ponga, elected to the congress from 2009 to 2014, after leading the Rassemblement-UMP list in the North province. His uncle, Maurice Ponga, was a Member of the European Parliament.
Diploma of political science, Alcide put carries out his professional career in the mine. First of all at SLN, where he holds administrative management positions in the mining centers of TiebaghiThio then Népoui. He joined in 2010 the project KNS, where it will become director external affairs and institutional relations. A position he held until last August and the cessation of activities on the industrial site.
Alcide Ponga “has the capacity to bring together political leaders and, beyond that, Caledonians in a solidarity essential to saving the territory in the difficult phase we are going through”, estimates Virginie Ruffenach, president of the Rassemblement-Les Républicains au Congrès group.
A faithful member of the Gathering
Mayor of Kouaoua since 2014, Alcide Ponga is also president of the Rally since April 21, 2024, a position he held on an interim basis since 2020 and the resignation of Thierry Santa. He thus became the first Kanak to hold this position. He is also head of the “Agissons pour le Nord” group in the Northern province and a member of Congress since 2019.
At the end of June, he had been designated by the Rassemblement-Les Républicains, with the support of the Loyalists, to defend the non-independence colors against Emmanuel Tjibaou during the anticipated legislative elections in the second constituency. He lost in the second round with more than 13,000 votes difference (57.44% of the votes cast in favor of the independence candidate, against 42.56% for Alcide Ponga).
Due to his election to the presidency of the government, Alcide Ponga will resign from his position as mayor of Kouaoua, but will remain on the municipal council.
