"LE GABON ENERVANT" OR "ANNOYING GABON"

Ali Bongo (photo: COCOM) English version Many readers have asked us about what they perceive as the chronic instability at the top of the State, with changes of Prime Ministers and governments at too regular intervals to allow for the implementation of real policy that would effectively take care of sovereign tasks assigned to these changing Prime Ministers and governments. The more cynical among our readers have even gone so far as to say that these current changes are done on purpose by Ali Bongo, to weaken the government and let the real management of the country done by agencies, often flanked by the Foreign Legion, which benefit from some stability, away from the prying eyes of the "Gabonese" who want to know where their money is going. To make all this clear, we compared the frequency of changes in government personnel in Gabon and in the great democracies, the USA (Obama regime since 2008) and the entire governance of Sarkozy in France. The differen...

English version Just like the independent newspapers of Gabon, the French newsletter "La Lettre du Continent" had been predicting for several months, the political perishing of Laure Gondjout and Raymond Ndong Sima, both having been in trouble with the inevitable Maixent Accrombessi, the real Cerberus of traffic control within the regime. Therefore, when "La Lettre du Continent" comes back to deliver its analysis of recent events in Gabon, we should not ignore that. This blog reflects for you the information contained in the latest edition of that newsletter. Reading between the lines, it appears, according to the LDC, that the changes at the top of the state in recent times, specifically the unceremonious departures of Laure Olga Gondjout and Raymond Ndong Sima, came about because of two things: one, to get rid of people who were not really into Ali Bongo’s circle of trust, and secondly to do away from people who did not have good chemistry wit...

English version It is the Singaporean press, as you can read above, that has recently announced the scarry news that Olam International has decided to sell part of its forestry and saw milling assets in Gabon for US$18 million (9 billion CFA francs) to a consortium of Chinese investors. This divestment is said to be part of Olam's restructuration, probably because of its financial woes. This deal is said to include the sale to the Chinese of two saw mills in the Makokou region, and of several hectares of land and associated forestry concessions. This blog thinks that this news is very concerning; here is why: 1. Land is a heritage of sovereignty for a country and only nationals of that country may sell it In almost all countries of the world, especially in democracies, people speak of territorial sovereignty, land sovereignty and food sovereignty. What do these terms mean? a) Territorial sovereignty refers to the idea that a State is constituted through it...

Jean Eyeghe Ndong (Photo: JPR) English version We followed as closely as we could, the fluctuations of the outcome of the appointment (yes it was an appointment and not an election, we will explain) of the mayor of the town of Libreville, and for us, two aspects are absolutely essential to remember: 1. Jean Eyeghe Ndong has yet demonstrated to this blog that we needed keep having faith in his political destiny because he remained a Republican to the end and this Republican posture exposed the PDG and the regime deviance. 2. That Gabon still has a huge distance to travel, in order to even be considered as a country, if only, at the dawn of democracy; a situation in no way seeming to disturb the rulers. The PDG having been scalded by its debacle in Bitam, where democracy had prevailed; decided to leave nothing to chance and made a departure from the more sacrosanct democratic principles, removing from the Councilors having to elect the mayor of Libreville, the...

(Image: Marthe Lem) English version The original articles can be accessed by clicking here for Dutch or English In Gabon, politicians order ritual murders of children In a small village hidden in the rainforest, forty kilometers from the Gabonese capital Libreville, I met Augustine Bendome. She takes me to a deserted road, adjacent to a dilapidated wooden house with no doors or windows. Here Augustine found late in October 2013 the body of her four year-old daughter with no heart, genitals and tongue. Bendome Augustine is one of the many mothers in Gabon whose child has been a victim of a ritual murder. I traveled off to the former French colony to investigate this phenomenon. Research Every year around thirty ritual murders are recorded in Gabon . The actual number should be much higher, because many of these murders are not reported or are misidentified. Ritual murders are committed primarily to children - their body parts - tongue, he...

Raymond Ndong Sima (photo Jeune Afrique) English version Léon Mébiame was the first Vice-President of Albert Bernard Bongo from 1968. Gabon, to imitate the French model, just for pretense, which pattern of governance was a shared executive branch between the President and a Prime Minister; Léon Mébiame was converted from Vice President to Prime Minister on April 16, 1975. He would serve as Prime Minister until the National Conference of 1990 and will resign at the end of that National Conference. Casimir Oye Mba was appointed prime minister on 27 April 1990 and formally installed in office on 3 May 1990. Transfer of services with Leon Mebiame were done normally. Casimir Oye Mba would be Prime Minister until November 2, 1994 when he resigned. He was replaced by Paulin Obame Nguema and transfer of service again was uneventful, Oye Mba even serving in successive Paulin Obame Nguema’s governments. Paulin Obame Nguema will be Prime Minister until 23 January 1999 when...

Daniel Ona Ondo English version This Friday, January 24, 2014, Ali Bongo announced the firing of Raymond Ndong Sima and the appointment as Prime Minister of Daniel Ona Ondo who had been until then Senator. The first reaction of this blog regarding this replacement is that once again, independent newspapers have demonstrated their perfect reading of the political landscape of Gabon; because before anyone else, these newspapers announced months ago that Raymond Ndong Sima’s fate was sealed, a situation highlighted by the many humiliations the Prime Minister had suffered at the hand of those near Ali Bongo, the head of them being Maixent Accrombessi, his Chief of Staff. But in Gabon, things are never really handled as they are elsewhere, in the sense that almost everywhere else, if the measures of individual appointment obviously fall within the constitutional authority of the President of the Republic, the general announcement of appointment of a Prime Minister obeys...