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Tag: Ali Bongo

  • Gabon military junta releases ousted President Bongo

    Gabon military junta releases ousted President Bongo

    The Gabonese military junta has released ousted President Ali Bongo from detention. 

    Bongo was freed from house arrest, according to BBC on health ground. 

    BBC reported that “the decision to free Mr Bongo was due to “his state of health”.

    The junta said he’s now “free to move about”.

    In a communique on state TV on Wednesday evening, military spokesperson Col Ulrich Manfoumbi said the decision to free Mr Bongo was due to “his state of health”.

    “He may, if he wishes, travel abroad for medical check-ups,” he added.

    The decision to free him follows pressure from the Central African regional bloc Eccas and Gabon’s neighbours, to respect the physical integrity of the ousted head of state.

    In 2018, Mr Bongo suffered a stroke.

    Read Also: Niger, Gabon others may miss Africa Military Games 2024, says DHQ

    His health was a major source of concern for many in the build-up to the 2023 presidential election.

    The Nation reported that a group of senior Gabonese soldiers appeared on national television and announced they had taken power, minutes after the state election body announced President Ali Bongo had won a third term.

    Appearing on television channel Gabon 24, the officers said they represented all security and defence forces in the Central African nation. They said the election results were cancelled, all borders closed until further notice and state institutions dissolved.

    “In the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” the officers said in a statement.

    As one officer read the joint statement, about a dozen others stood silently behind him in military fatigues and berets.

    As in previous general elections in Gabon, there were serious concerns about the process in Saturday’s vote.Few days later,

     General Brice Oligui Nguema was inaugurated as interim president of the country. 

     Nguema vowed to return power to civilians after “free, transparent” elections.

    However, the junta leader failed to give a date to end his rule.

    In a speech after being sworn in as interim president, at Monday’s inauguration, Gen Nguema gave a defiant speech, saying “This patriotic action will be a lesson learnt that will be taught in the books of our schools.

    The new President, dressed in the red ceremonial costume of the Republican Guard, also added that a fresh government would be formed “in a few days” and recommended new electoral legislation, a new penal code and a referendum on a new constitution.

    Gen Nguema also said he had instructed the new government “to think without delay” about freeing all political prisoners.

    The ceremony was broadcast live on Gabonese TV and across online platforms.

  • 23 things to know about ousted Gabon President Ali Bongo

    23 things to know about ousted Gabon President Ali Bongo

    The military on Wednesday ousted Ali Bongo Ondimba from the presidency following the results of the 2023 Gabonese general election.

    He has ruled Gabon for 14 years while his father Albert-Bernard Bongo ruled for 42-years.

    Here are things to know about ousted Gabon President Ali Bongo:

    1. Ali Bongo Ondimba was born Alain Bernard Bongo in Brazzaville on February 9, 1959.

    2. He is the son of Albert-Bernard Bongo (later Omar Bongo Ondimba) who was president of Gabon from 1967 until his death in 2009.

    3. His mum, Josephine Kama (later Patience Dabany) was 18 years old at the time of his birth.

    4. He was conceived 18 months before Albert-Bernard’s marriage and there have been rumours of him being Bongo’s adopted son, a claim that he dismisses.

    5. Bongo was educated at a private school in Neuilly, France, and then studied law at the Sorbonne.

    6. In 2018, he received an honorary doctorate of law degree from Wuhan University in China.

    7. In 1977, he released a funk album, A Brand New Man, produced by Charles Bobbit.

    8. After graduating from his law course, he entered politics, joining the Gabonese Democratic Party in 1981.

    Read Also: 20 things to know about Gabon’s military coup

    9. He was elected to the PDG Central Committee at the party’s Third Extraordinary Congress in March 1983.

    10. Subsequently, he was his father’s Personal Representative to the PDG and in that capacity he entered the PDG Political Bureau in 1984.

    11. He was then elected to the Political Bureau at an ordinary party congress in September 1986.

    12. He is the third president of Gabon from 2009 to 2023.

    13. Bongo is a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party.

    14. During his father’s presidency, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1991, represented Bongoville as a Deputy in the National Assembly from 1991 to 1999, and was Minister of Defense from 1999 to 2009.

    15. After his father’s death, he won the 2009 Gabonese presidential election.

    16. He was reelected in 2016, in elections marred by numerous irregularities, arrests, human rights violations and post-election protests and violence.

    17. Bongo held the post of High Personal Representative of the President of the Republic from 1987 to 1989.

    18. The Gabonese Democratic Party, of which Bongo is a member, has ruled the country continuously since independence from France in 1960, including 41 years under Bongo’s father, Omar.

    19. Allegations of electoral fraud and irregularities immediately emerged from opposition parties and independent observers, casting a shadow of doubt over the legitimacy of the election results

    20. Bongo was declared the winner on 29 August.

    21. Albert Ondo Ossa, who came second in the elections, alleged electoral irregularities.

    22. He had already claimed victory and urged Bongo to facilitate a peaceful transfer of power based on his own purported vote count.

    23. The election result was annulled following the coup d’état.