Ali Bongo

[rowan]

Wow, just reading about the disputed election results in Gabon, where unsuccessful challenger Jean Ping has accused incumbent Ali Bongo of fraud. But another controversy is raging over the actual birthplace of the president, who is suspected of being an adopted child of the Biafra genocide which occurred in Nigeria during the late 1960s, leading to more than two million deaths (mostly Biafran and many from starvation), which was shamelessly prolonged by foreign powers' backing of opposing sides. If you're not familiar with that particular horror story, I recommend you acquaint yourself with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 'Half of a Yellow Sun' (movie adaptation not so good). Of course, Bongo would never have been eligible for president were this case, so it appears quite a major cover-up must have been carried out if it turns out to be true. The Bongos, Ali and his dad Omar before him, have ruled the diminutive, oil-rich West African nation of just 1.7 million inhabitants for almost half a century. In fact, Gabon only gained independence from France 56 years ago and was ruled for the next seven years by Leon M'Ba. Omar won 7 elections between 1973 and 2005, most of them as the sole candidate, and several during mass social unrest and riots. Ali came to power just seven years ago following his father's death, though again there was controversy with the opposition boycotting the election. Violence and looting followed. Basically there has been no let-up in the unrest since, and earlier this year parliament speaker Guy Nzouba Ndama and several other members of the ruling party resigned. They backed Ping during the recent election, but Bongo was declared the winner by a margin of less than two percent amid accusations of cheating. Two deaths were recorded during post-election violence. Anyway, it sounds like the Nigerian birth issue is gaining traction, and might even succeed in bringing an end to the long reign of the Bongos.

[rowan]

Gabon's constitutional court has upheld the re-election victory anyway. Not sure if investigations into the actual birth-place of the president are ongoing, though I imagine so.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/09/g ... 05297.html

[rowan]

Update: 20 employees at the headquarters of the Echos du Nord opposition newspaper were taken away for questioning today. Editor-in-Chief Desire Ename, operating out of Paris for the past two years due to security concerns, said the employees had been verbally threatened and seized, and now there was no way of communicating with them. The newspaper has been particularly critical of Bongo. The government has apparently claimed that the journalists were detained as part of an investigation into an article about an imminent military coup.