Wednesday heralded yet another political history in Africa as Gabon President Ali Bongo was ousted from power few hours after the general election results were announced.
Bongo is seeking a third-term in office to extend his family’s power grip beyond 55 years.
The 12 military officers, members of the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), made the announcement on national television and announced the cancellation of the elections.
The junta stated that it had dissolved all state institutions, adding that the nation’s borders have been closed.
Below are 10 things to know about ousted Gabon President Ali Bongo:
- Ali Bongo was born in February 1959 in neighbouring Central African country Congo-Brazzaville with full name Alain Bernard Bongo. He was eight years old when his father, Omar Bongo, seized power from the Gabon government in 1967.
- His name was converted to Ali after he and his father converted to Islam, a move that was seen as a ploy to attract investments and favours from the global Muslim community.
- He had a passion for funk music in his late teenage years, during which he released an album produced by legend James Brown’s manager, Charles Bobbit in 1977. He later showed love for jazz and classical music.
- Ali Bongo turned to politics four years after the album’s release, joining the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) in 1981. He later served as Minister of Defence in his father’s government for 10 years.
- He was Gabon’s Foreign Minister for three years before his first appointment. The change was due to the constitution, which demanded that ministers must be over 35 years old.
- In October 2009, he emerged as President much after his father’s death having ruled the country for 42, winning 42% of votes in an election alleged fraudulent by opposition.
- Bongo suffered a stroke in October 2018 (the reason he walks with a stick and speaks slowly). His family was accused of embezzling the country’s funds and running it like a family business. He made his first post-stroke appearance in February, 2023 after three months.
- In 2017, the French Police ended its seven-year corruption investigation of the Bongo family after it couldn’t find sufficient evidence. The investigation revealed 39 properties in France along with nine exotic cars.
- Ali Bongo is married to French-born Sylvia Bongo, and they have four children together, a daughter Malika Bongo Ondimba, and three sons Noureddin Bongo Valentin, Jalil Bongo Ondimba, and Bilal Bongo (adopted). He had married a second wife, Inge Collins, a US citizen, in 1994, who later filed for divorce in 2015.
- He is one of the Francophone African Presidents with popular links to the Freemason membership, a society with over six million members worldwide. He once led the Gabonese chapter as lodge master.
One-third of the Gabon population currently lives below the poverty line, despite the country’s rich natural resources Bongo’s top election opponent, Albert Ondo Ossa, accused his government of suspending foreign broadcast along with its decision to block internet access during the polls.