"LE GABON ENERVANT" OR "ANNOYING GABON"

  English version   Dear readers, we are in the process of moving to a new geographical location. Up to this point we have been able to publish the blog while transitioning from the old to the new location. However, we must now shut down activities at the current location ang go resume them at the new place. This transition will take about 2 weeks and during this time, we will also redesign the blog.   Thank you and happy new year   Charlie   Version française   Chers lecteurs, nous sommes en train de déménager vers une nouvelle destination géographique. Jusqu'à présent, nous avons continué à publier le blog pendant la transition de l'ancienne vers la nouvelle destination. Cependant, nous devons définitivement déconnecter nos activités à l'ancien emplacement pour aller les installer au nouvel endroit. Cette transition prendra deux semaines et pendant ce temps, nous allons aussi refaire le design du blog.   Merci et bonne et heureuse année.   Charlie  

English version Neutralized by fear, paralyzed by discouragement, up to this point the Gabonese citizens have failed to react to the massive inequalities in the distribution of wealth, or the ongoing reductions in basic freedoms and social justice that the Bongos from father to son have visited upon them. The entire country is arguably suffering from a profound malaise as more and more people are finding it necessary to no longer abdicate their public responsibility as “truth tellers and truth seekers.” The more engaged and vocal the Gabonese people would be, the less able to oppress them would Ali Bongo become. Until now, the apparent inactivity and non-responsiveness of Gabonese citizens to the injustices of the Bongo regime could be partially if not wholly attributed to the systemic and ubiquitous use of fear by that regime. The Bongo system is an authoritarian-infused mode of governing that stretched from politics, economics, and all aspect of the Gabonese society. This Aut...

English version The civil society movement "Ça Suffit Comme Ça" released on Friday, an announcement clearly sending a message of strength to the regime. Like dictatoships elsewhere in the world, the Bongo regime relies on its exectation that the Gabonese people would be cowards and easily intimidated; but the movement "Ça Suffit Comme Ça" is showing that some Gabonese people can be different and determine to make change happen. Overtime, the momentum will continue to be build and the pendulum will swing. Ali Bongo, as is the case with other dictators, only understands strength. Concessions to his regime are a sign of weakness to be exploited; this is why the movement "Ça Suffit Comme Ça" must remain strong and unflinching about its principle. This fight will be won only through strength. The Gabonese people are clearly saying no to Ali Bongo and his form of government that is unelected, cruel, discriminatory and exploitative. As long as the Bongo reg...

English version The Bongo regime seems to think that reality actually does not exist, that it is just a subjective concept, a matter of opinion. For the people in power in Gabon, the reality as seen in the majority of the world may say that legitimacy is acquired via the ballot box, but in the Gabon of the Bongos, according to Rossatanga-Rignault, an advisor to Ali Bongo, political legitimacy does not necessarily come from the ballot box. In the rest of the world, elections with a turnout of less than 10% are not considered normal, but in the Gabon of the Bongos, real numbers do not matter at all because these numbers can be changed to whatever the regime wants them to be and presented as the new truth. In the Gabon of the Bongos, reality is just a commodity. The arrogance of the Bongo regime goes as far as its constant determination to attempt to remake reality in its own image. This regime thinks that its legitimacy may not be consistent with the wishes of the Gabonese people...

(Photo Rougou) English version This blog as been keeping its readers abreast of all the lies that were being told to the Gabonese people regarding the readiness of Gabon to host the African Cup of Nations 2012 (Can 2012). As the readers already know, history proves that dictatorships have always used sports to enhance their power over the people and CAN 2012 is not going to be an exception. It would be naïve for the Gabonese people to think for a minute that CAN 2012 will not be politically contaminated by the Bongo regime. This is why, just as the people were ready to send a strong message by not participating in the legislative election, those same 90% of the population should stay away from the football stadium and send the message that Ali Bongo should enjoy “his” games alone with his friends and family. The history of sport attests to its political use by unpopular regimes to create a false sense of popular support by the people and to contain the energies of the population...

English version Just having been shellacked at the polls by the Gabonese people who have refused to take part in his electoral comedy, the erratic and hereditary divine monarch of Gabon, Ali Bongo, and his henchmen have resorted to what they do best, meaning lying to try to save face. But everybody in Gabon and beyond, know the truth of the matter and the regime is left naked, having to scramble lies after lies, to try to create a different reality than was witnessed by the entire world last Saturday. The evidence of the predictable collapse of this cruel despotism that is the regime Bongo was magnificently put on display last Saturday, when the Gabonese people refused to go to the poll, despite every effort by the regime to push the population to vote. More importantly, in about a 3 months span, this is the third time that the Bongo regime has found itself living a differently reality than the population. The first instance was when the base of the party UPG refused to allow t...

(Photos Rougou) English version Democracy as translated from ancient Greek is the “rule by the people”, and must be considered as an ideal that every country strives to create, or preserve. Democracy as a system of governance that is supposed to create and allow extensive representation and inclusiveness of as many people and views as possible to feed into the functioning of a fair and just society. Importantly, a democratic system serves to check unaccountable power and manipulation by the few at the expense of the many and this is often implemented through elected representatives, which therefore requires free, transparent, and fair elections, in order to achieve legitimacy. In light of these definitions, when a people refuses by more than 90% to go to the poll as was the case last Saturday in Gabon, what does that mean? 1. Low voter turnouts There is absolute unanimity, except from the turkeys in power in Gabon, that the legislative election of last Saturday was marked by ...

JT LIVE - 19/12/11 - Edition du soir by AFRICA24 English version On the TV news channel Africa 24, on Monday, a Gabonese official lied through his teeth regarding the capacity of the country to deliver adequate infrastructure for CAN 2012. Version française Sur la Chaine Africa 24 ce Lundi, un officiel gabonais a raconté des mensonges en ce qui concerne la capacité du pays à offrir des infrastructures adéquate pour la CAN 2012.

English version Luc Bengone-Nsi is a member of the Gabonese opposition who was a political prisoner for 5 years under Bongo 1st. He gave this speech during the successful tour of the opposition asking the people to not go to the poll for the legislative election of last Saturday. Version française Luc Bengone Nsi-est un membre de l'opposition gabonaise qui a été prisonnier politique pendant 5 ans sous Bongo 1er. Il a prononcé ce discours lors de la tournée à succès de l'opposition qui demandait aux gabonais de ne pas rendre aux urnes pour les élections législatives de samedi dernier.

English version Ali Bongo and his family went on this Sunday on a propaganda trip to the Agondjé stadium aimed at showing that the field was going to be ready for football within a month time. But once again, they tried to pull wool over people’s eyes and failed miserably, because that field will never be ready in 30 days and here’s why: 1. Large patches of the new sod are showing a yellow appearance. According to the RGT1 reporter, the sod was laid on the field about 5 days ago and yet, as you can all see, large amount of that sod is turning yellow, which is not a good sign. The experts say that sod is delivered all rolled and stacked up. These stacked up bands of sod generate heat as they travel to the destination and while they wait to be set into place. If the sod sat all piled up for an extended period of time it probably became very hot, thus causing the grass to dry out and burn. What you are seeing manifested by the yellow color is dried and burned grass. Look caref...

A poll station in Bongoville, the native village of the Bongo family. Even there, there were not a lot of people voting/Un bureau de vote à Bongoville, le village natal de la famille Bongo. Même là-bas, il n’y avait pas grande affluence. Libreville in the second district, a timid attendance/Libreville dans le deuxième arrondissement, une présence timide. Libreville in a poll station of Lalala, no one is there/Libreville dans un bureau de vote de Lalala, personne n’y est. More empty poll stations/Encore des bureaux de vote vides. Libreville in the fifth district, a desert/Libreville dans le cinquième arrondissement, un désert. An empty poll station in Ntoum/Un bureau de vote vide a Ntoum An empty poll station in Franceville/Un bureau de vote vide a Franceville

English version It is an event when even the government TV channel, RTG1, must recognize that the turnout of the voting was extremely low. During the a program called “La Grande Nuit Electorale” on that channel, a journalist said that the turnout was anemic; so much so that in some polling stations in Libreville, only 25 people voted. This is truly appallingly low and indicates that the free opposition and the movement “Ça Suffit Comme Ça” was extremely successful in its campaign asking the Gabonese people to stay home and to not participate in this electoral comedy. Now that the momentum has been established, the opposition must continue to accelerate the pressure. Version française C'est un événement, quand même la chaîne de télévision gouvernementale, RTG1, doit reconnaître que la participation au vote était extrêmement faible. Pendant le programme une appelée «La Grande Nuit Électorale" sur cette chaine, un journaliste a dit que la participation a été anémique, s...

English version Guy Rossatanga-Rignault is an advisor to Ali Bongo the Gabonese dictator. He is also a university lecturer and a writer of several books. He has just published a book entitled “Qui T’a Fait Roi?” or in English: “Who Made You King?” In this book, Rossatanga-Rignault argues that democratic elections should not be the only source of legitimacy for a leader of a country. The funny thing is that this argument happens to be very convenient for him because he is the advisor to a dictator who just blatantly stole an election two years ago and had his father’s mistress declare him the winner with fictitious numbers. This is a known fact. But seriously, the sad thing is that Rossatanga-Rignault’s argument offends the dignity and the intelligence of not only the average Gabonese but also that of the average African. History proves that every dictatorship and authoritarian regime has its intellectual apologists. There were intellectuals who justified the gulags under Stalin ...

English version In Gabon, there are laws determining the equity of news broadcasts between the party in power and the opposition. To illustrate how the Gabonese government does not respect its own laws, one can look at the news coverage of the government channel RTG1. On Thursday, the main nightly news broadcast of 8 o’clock at night spent 30 minutes and 25 seconds covering the campaign for the legislative election. So from a total of 30 minutes and 25 seconds dedicated to election coverage, only 1 minute and 40 seconds went to the PSD, everything else to the PDG or in terms of percentage more than 95% were dedicated to the coverage of the PDG. The law in Gabon says that the coverage should be 50/50% between the party in power and the opposition, but at this point in Gabon, who cares? Below is how the coverage was distributed. So goes Gabon. Version française Au Gabon, il existe des lois pour déterminer l’équité d’accès aux chaines publiques entre le parti au pouvoir et l...