"LE GABON ENERVANT" OR "ANNOYING GABON"

English version It is under titles such as "Prime Minister Julia Gillard welcomed controversial African leader President Ali Bongo" that the Australian press is describing the meeting between Ali Bongo and the Australian Prime Minister in Kirribilli House. The Australian press is reminding the public on this Friday that Ali Bongo has been accused of violence and election fraud, and that his family is believed to have stolen a quarter of Gabon's wealth. The journalist Daniel Piotrowski writes in the newspaper PUNCH, that Prime Minister Julia Gillard welcomed a controversial African leader facing corruption and election fraud allegations. He reminds the readers that Ali Bongo became president in 2009, following a vote that was marred by violence against members of the opposition and widespread allegations of electoral fraud. In his article he quotes Amnesty USA reports detailing that Gabonese human rights activists and opposition members have documented th...

English version Gallup, Inc., a research-based performance-management consulting company has just published a study conducted in 133 countries around the world, determining which countries have a free press and which ones do not. The study was published in the Los Angeles Times this Wednesday. The methodology of the study was to ask a sample of the population in every country whether they believe that their media are free to report the news accurately. In the image above, you see the world map of the study, with countries coded to indicate by light green that a country has a free media and dark green that the media is not free. On this map, you can clearly see that Gabon is dark green, meaning: no media freedom. The table below shows the countries with the least media freedom. This table shows the catastrophic classification of Gabon which came second to last. Only Belarus was worse than Gabon among the 133 countries studied. As you can see in this table, on 27% o...

Click the link below/Cliquez le lien ci-dessous Georges Mpaga on Voice of America/George Mpaga sur La Voix de l'Amérique

Click here/cliquez ici (George Mpaga) Click here/Cliquez ici (The dean of the school of Law and Economics/doyen de la fac de Droit et Sciences Eco) English version Georges Mpaga is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Network of Free Civil Society for Good Governance in Gabon (ROLBG). He is also Deputy National Coordinator of an NGO called "Publish What You Pay" in Gabon. Additionally he is Consultant-Expert in Formulation of Projects. He spoke to Voice of America to provide his opinion about the situation of siege that currently exist at the University of Libreville where several students have been arrested by the security forces and incarcerated in the central prison of Libreville. The second link contains the opinion of the Dean of the school of Law and Economics of that university. Version francaise Georges MPAGA est Président du Conseil d'Administration du Réseau des Organisations Libres de la Société Civile pour la Bonne Go...

English Version The movement "Ça Suffit Comme Ça" has published a press release regarding the situation developing in Gabonese universities. Below is that press release. Since last February, the Gabonese students have been asking for the payment of their scholarship awards and the reversal of the reforms recently instituted to impose a cutoff under 27 years of age, to have access to Master 2 programs. Wanting to avoid that the student movement disturbs the competition of CAN-2012, Ali Bongo has made promises that have been unfulfilled to this day. Added to this is the situation of many teachers who for many months, still have their salaries suspended in spite of appeals submitted to the competent courts. All this has angered the students of the University Omar Bongo in Libreville. In response to students anger that had remained peaceful, the government has chosen repression, threats and intimidation. To date, many students are suspended from the university...

A partial view of the people present at the meeting Une vue partielle des personnes présentent lors du meeting (Photos Marc Ona-Essangui)  English version Last week, OLAM, the Singaporean agro-business company, announced that it was going to invest in a joint venture with the Gabonese government, to establish 28,000 hectares of rubber plantations. OLAM said that the total investment for this project would be of about $183 million and OLAM will have an 80 percent interest in the venture and Gabon will have 20%. According to statements that can be found on OLAM website, the worldwide demand for rubber is increasing so fast that plantations need to be expanded by 1 million hectares within five years to meet it. For OLAM, this expansion will first occur in the province of Woleu-Ntem in Gabon. But it looks like the deal between OLAM and the Gabonese government took place without consultation with the population living around the area where these plantations ...

English Version Just hours after official results showed the candidate of the opposition winning, President Abdoulaye Wade declared on Monday that he was conceding defeat. This is a conclusion that solidifies Senegal's reputation as one of few established democracies in western Africa, contrary to countries like Gabon where unelected baboons are sitting at the top of the country, despite the strong desired of the people to get rid of them. Wade's capitulation is also a great victory by the Senegalese people who have clearly said in the past months that Senegal would not become like Gabon and that they would not allow Wade to prepare the presidency for his son. Macky Sall has won; congratulations to him. He must do a maximum of two terms in office and then next, another person chosen by the Senegalese people will become president. This is simply called democracy, something the Bongos know nothing about. Bravo Senegal! Version française Quelques heure...

English Version OLAM, the Singaporean company has convinced the Gabonese government that it would be a good idea to expend the cultivation of rubber in the Gabonese primary and secondary forest. Because in Gabon, the government seldom does impact studies before awarding lucrative concessions to foreign companies, this blog decided to publish the opinion of research scientists published in the journal Science on 22 May 2009 and another article about the impact of rubber trees in Thailand. These articles were analyzing the impact of rubber plantations in Southeast Asia and present certainly lessons for Gabon and Africa. Below are these article. The Rubber Juggernaut Alan D. Ziegler, Jefferson M. Fox, Jianchu Xu Rubber plantations are expanding rapidly throughout montane mainland Southeast Asia. More than 500,000 ha may have been converted already in the uplands of China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar. By 2050, the area of land dedicated to rubber and ...

English version This Saturday, the leader of the military coup in Mali, Amadou Sanogo, appeared on television to say that he was alive and well and therefore denying rumors that he had been killed in a counter-coup as previously announced in the media. The videos above show parts of that statement. Version français Ce samedi, le leader du coup d’état militaire du Mali, Amadou Sanogo, est apparu à la télévision pour démontrer qu’il était en vie et bien portant et par conséquent démentir les rumeurs qu’il avait été tué comme annoncé précédemment dans les médias. Les vidéos ci-dessus montrent des parties de cette déclaration.

English version Rumors are swirling in Bamako of an imminent counter-coup led by Amadou Toumani Toure loyalists aided by foreign troups. Another rumor indicates that Amadou Sanogo, the army captain named as coup leader, has already been killed. But this suggestion was denied on state TV. At the moment, confusion still reign in Bamako. This blog will keep you posted Version française Des rumeurs tourbillonnantes à Bamako font état d'un imminent contre-coup d'Etat dirigé par des loyalistes d’Amadou Toumani Touré aidés par des troupes étrangères. Une autre rumeur indique qu’Amadou Sanogo, le capitaine d'armée présenté comme chef de la junte arrivée au pouvoir, a déjà été tué. Mais cette affirmation a été démentie à la télévision d'Etat. À l'heure actuelle, la confusion règne toujours à Bamako. Ce blog vous tiendra au courant

  English Version Here we go again, this week, Ali Bongo and his entourage went to London, presumably to discuss issues of development at the Wilton Park gathering. The title of that gathering is: A climate and resource security dialogue for the 21st century. While Ali Bongo's apologists continue to hail these gatherings as the panacea that will help bring Gabon to the status of an emerging country, criticism is growing among Gabonese dissidents and activists who are increasingly considering these meetings as a waste of tax payer's money and therefore a waste of time. Gathering in Libreville for the New-York Forum Africa, or gathering in London for the Wilton Park Conference; as far as most Gabonese people are concerned, these exercises are a waste of time and money. People would like to see the Gabonese government first be able to pick up the garbage efficiently before making all kinds of promises as a result of attending these ridiculously expensive ...

English Version Ali Bongo has made the promise to the Gabonese people that he is going to transform Gabon into an emerging country by the year 2025, meaning in about 13 years. In this post, we propose videos that would allow people to analyze whether this is possible. We will let the readers make up their mind but we believe that given the way things are going with Ali Bongo, Gabon will not be able to climb to emerging economy status in the next 13 years. Version Française Ali Bongo a fait la promesse au peuple gabonais de transformer le Gabon un pays émergent d'ici 2025, ce qui signifie dans environ 13 ans. Dans ce post, nous vous proposons des vidéos qui permettent aux gens d'analyser si cela est possible. Nous laisserons les lecteurs décider d'eux mêmes, mais nous croyons que tel qu'il est parti avec Ali Bongo, le Gabon ne sera pas capable de grimper au stade d'économie émergente dans les 13 prochaines années.

English version A friend of this blog sent us the testimony of one of his contacts in Bamako. We do share it with you below. Things are not well, all institutions have been dissolved and a curfew has been introduced. The origin of the coup is only the fact that the state failed in managing the crisis and let the soldiers die. The Touareg in the North have invaded several cities, the Malian army is not equipped. There is no management of ethnic conflict. The Malian civilians are not involved. No official statement as of yet but there are some victims. Soumaila Cisse, a presidential candidate, had his house burned. In other news, American sources are affirming that Amadou Toumani Toure seems to have sought refuge in the premises of the United States Embassy in Mali. We will keep you posted. Version française Un ami de ce blog nous a fait parvenir le témoignage d'un de ses contacts à Bamako. Nous vous le faisons partager ci-dessous. Ça va mal, disso...

La junte militaire du Mali The military junta in Mali Amadou Toumani-Toure English version A group of junior officers in Mali, said to be unhappy about the conflict in the country’s north against the Touareg rebellion, has seized control of the country’s national television station and its presidential palace in what is believed to be a coup d'etat. On Thursday morning, a spokesman for the military junta said that Mali’s institutions had been “dissolved” and its Constitution suspended. Several ministers were reported to have been arrested. This is the first coup in Mali since 1991, when Moussa Traore was deposed. Until now, its government led by Amadou Toumani-Toure, had been considered one of the more democratic in Africa. This blog will keep you posted Version française Un groupe d'officiers Maliens, déclarant être mecontents de la gestion du conflit dans le nord du pays contre la rébellion Touareg, a pris le contrôle de la station nationale d...