"LE GABON ENERVANT" OR "ANNOYING GABON"

English version This Wednesday, Louis Gaston Mayila was simply and purely kicked out of the UFC, this coalition of 22 opposition parties created 2 months ago in Mouila. The exclusion was made public at the headquarters of CDJ, by Jules Bourdes Ogouliguendé who essentially said that the conference of presidents of member parties of the UFC decided not to admit Mayila to their meetings, or to their manifestations. This exclusion applies to both Mayila and any other representative of his party UPNR. . It is reported that Mayila then left the room, followed as one might expect given the previous alliances, by Séraphin Ndaot of PDS and Fidèle Wora of UPG. It is also reported that Mayila was verbally taken on by militants who allegedly stoned his car. Our next post will deal with this news. Version française Ce Mercredi, Louis Gaston Mayila a été purement et simplement vire de l'UFC, cette coalition de 22 partis politiques d’opposition née il y a 2 ...

English version Alain Claude Bilie Bi Nze, Ali Bongo's spokesman, recently gave his weekly press conference, which has often served as a springboard for telling public opinion that all was well in Gabon and that no crisis condition was palpable. But reality has finally caught up with Bilie Bi Nze and his boss, because no normal person could conceive that it is common that one of the largest oil producers in Africa for 40 years, should be paralyzed by a landslide in its single highway following a rainfall similar to dozens falling per year in the country; no one can argue that it is normal for a city like Libreville to be deprived of water for several days while rainfall and hydrographic circumstances literally making the country into a castle of natural water; no observer can justify the many outages suffered by those who have access to electricity in Gabon, and the bulk of the population which still has no access to electricity. No, Mr. Bilie Bi Nze, you now cannot...

Evo Morales English version A piece of information contained in Oliver Stone’s documentary “South of the Border” could be of crucial importance for Gabon, because the same multinational corporation is involved at the highest level of the Gabonese dictatorship; this multinational is Bechtel. In Gabon, Bechtel is in charge of the Agency of Great Works that reports directly to Ali Bongo and answers to no one else. In the documentary, Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia tells Oliver stone how in 1999, the Bolivian government of his predecessor, Hugo Banzer, under heavy pressure from the World Bank, sold Cochabamba's public water system to Bechtel, for an amount of money that remains secret to this day. Cochabamba is Bolivia third largest city with about 608276 inhabitants and containing some of the most fertile soils in Bolivia. As soon as Bechtel took control of the water sources in Cochabamba, it informs water users that their rates would be doubling and mo...

English version After multiple contradictory positions, Louis Gaston Mayila has finally been excluded from the UFC, the coalition of opposition parties. He can now openly join Ali Bongo. French version Apres de multiples positions contradictoires, Louis Gaston Mayila a finalement été éconduit de l’UFC, la coalition des partis d’opposition. Il peut donc ouvertement, maintenant rejoindre Ali Bongo.

English version In a media environment often rife with disinformation, lies and dishonesty, this blog has been pleasantly surprised by the freshness, frankness, but also the lessons that could benefit Africans in general and Gabon in particular, of the documentary "South Of The Border" by director Oliver Stone. In that documentary, which appeared on screens in 2010, Oliver Stone visits five different countries in Latin America to investigate the social and political movements taking place there and give a vision to that reality, unlike the caricatures that is often shown in the so called "authorized" press. He reveals the underside of the new "Bolivarian Revolution" by interviewing Presidents Hugo Chavez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), her husband and former president Nestor Kirchner, Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador) and Raul Castro (Cuba). In this documentary,...

English version This is a very good article written by a Gabonese citizen, Regis Essono. Given its length, we are publishing it in its original French only. But as usual, if you like to receive an English translation, let us know and we will send one to you. Version française Ci-dessous, nous publions un très bon article écrit par Régis Essono, un citoyen gabonais. Accompagner les acteurs d’une transition pacifique au Gabon Par Régis Essono « Je veux que le 6 mai soit une bonne nouvelle pour les démocrates et une mauvaise pour les dictateurs »[1] « Je romprai avec la Françafrique, en proposant une relation fondée sur l’égalité, la confiance et la solidarité »[2] Ces deux fortes prises de position de François Hollande pendant la campagne électorale des dernières présidentielles expliquent sans doute en bonne partie le soulagement et la joie manifestés lors de sa victoire, le 6 mai dernier, par la plupart des populations des pays d’Afri...

A queue of people waiting for clean water in Libreville Des Librevillois faisant la queue pour de l'eau potable English version The Energy and Water Company of Gabon (SEEG), a subsidiary of Veolia, has just communicated a program of rationing of water supply in the capital, Libreville. Even in normal times, all areas of Libreville were not always able to be supplied with running water; therefore at this time of breakage of a pipeline bringing water to the city, the plight of the populations is even more profound. Alongside this stopgap measure to provide water to the population, there is that of the reopening of the Nationale 1, which follows a "filling" of the crevice caused by water pressure. From the images, this blog sees evidence that this filling is even more dangerous than the narrow nozzle that was there previously, because the waters are no longer able to flow and when waters no longer flow, their strength is tenfold and other disasters ...

English version The population of Libreville is currently dealing with a cruel paradox: while it is abundantly raining, it is almost impossible to find clean running water. The reason, according to the sole supplier of running water, SEEG, is that due to recent heavy rain, a pipe bringing water from the outskirt of town into Libreville was detached and that company is working to repair the damage. In the meantime, as you can see on the pictures above, the population of Libreville is going around desperately seeking clean water. This is particularly sad and tragic since everybody who can do a little research, knows that in the 1960s and 70s, almost every road crossing of major neighborhoods of Libreville had an efficient public fountain where families could come get fresh running water to cook, wash, drink etc.; all year long, for free. This service was offered by the government and in those days, it was very rare to experience such interruption of running w...