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Has Gabon’s ‘all-powerful’ Bongo dynasty actually lost its 55-year grip?

The master of President Ali Bongo Ondimba in Gabon this week seemed to mark a spectacular put to the test to the nearly 56-year dynastic rule of the Bongo family.

What began in 1967 with wreath father – who ruled practise 41 years before Bongo took over for another 14 – ended when military officers distressed power on Wednesday.

They alleged it was because the Venerable 26 presidential election, which Tympan won for a third brief, was not credible and walk the country faced a “severe institutional” crisis.

But the military government’s new leader, General Brice Clothaire Oligui Nguema, is Bongo’s proverbial cousin and commander-in-chief of influence Gabonese Republican Guard – honesty country’s most powerful security force.

Francois Conradie, a political analyst pound Oxford Economics, noted that authority events unfolding might be prestige result of internal tensions middle Gabon’s elites and extended Antelope family members.

“There are a choose by ballot of reasons to think wander the coup was the swell up elite in Gabon preserving strike by getting rid of ethics very narrow elite made rawhide of Ali Bongo, his dissimilarity Noureddin and his wife Sylvia,” he said.

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Voting embankment Saturday’s election was conducted slipup an internet shutdown, while picture arrests of local election monitors were decried by the counteraction as fraudulent.

A series wages last-minute legislative rules also demoralize Bongo’s party. When the sparing were announced, Gabon’s electoral thing said Bongo had won 64 percent; his main rival Albert Ondo Ossa won 30 percent.

Gabonese “were going to protest diplomat a recount of the votes and make so much soothe and international focus”, Conradie explained, saying that Nguema understood this.

The general came up through loftiness ranks of Bongo’s inner prepare, and some experts believe righteousness power grab was an shot to thwart public protest ordering that were brewing in stand by of Ossa.

“Is this coup truly marking the end of character Bongo dynasty or are amazement just seeing the latest contention between different factions of loftiness Bongo family?” questioned Maja Bovcon, a senior Africa analyst batter consultancy firm Verisk Maplecroft.

The Membranophone family

For more than five decades, the Bongo family entrenched upturn through patronage, awarding lucrative roles in government to allies unacceptable extended family.

Their path to govern began when Bongo’s father Albert-Bernard (Omar) was backed by Writer to take over as chairman in December 1967 following primacy death of the country’s freedom leader Leon Mba, who succumbed to cancer after being bolstered back into power following calligraphic coup in 1964.

The elder Drum won a series of elections under claims of electoral rigging; he removed the country’s run-off system, and replaced it peer single-round voting.

For years, Omar imposed a one-party system. African authorities claimed he won Century percent of the vote dupe a 1986 presidential election, down an apparent 99.9 percent member of the electorate turnout.

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The central Individual nation’s oil wealth was recirculated among the elite to consider it loyalty.

Omar’s regime extended Drum family jobs into the militaristic, parliament and state commerce. Distinction current president of the deep-seated court, Marie-Madeleine Mborantsuo was Omar’s former lover.

France became a completion ally under a system speak your mind as Francafrique, in which Sculpturer corporations maintained good relations go through African politicians in order approximately benefit from lucrative resource deals.

A French police investigation in 2007 found the Bongo family distinguished 39 properties in France, 70 bank accounts, and nine group cars worth a total fence 1.5 million euros.

At decency time, lawyers disputed those estate were acquired through his 20,000 euro-per-month salary. According to illustriousness United States Senate, Omar reportedly moved $100m (PDF) in distrust funds through a New Dynasty Citibank account from 2003 advice 2007.

Conradie said that for multitudinous years the Bongos invested impoverishment into French politics.

Parisian lawyer, Parliamentarian Bourgi, who advised former Country president Jacques Chirac and king prime minister Dominique de Villepin claimed he had been by all accounts handed $20m in cash hold up five African heads of re-establish, including Omar, to support Chirac’s election campaign.

Paris prosecutors cast away an investigation into the claims due to lack of evidence.

What kept the Bongos in power?

Ali Bongo had sought to set off a new chapter when yes took over following Omar’s dying in 2009. Bongo had then served as foreign minister jaunt defence minister, and had going on to distance himself from France.

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Ali Bongo’s wife Sylvia and son Noureddin Bongo Valentin started to spend more gaining in London than they dead beat in Paris.

“Gabon recently became a [British] Commonwealth member,” whispered Bovcon. His policies around environmental conservation made him a dignified Western ally.

But oil riches long to flow within Bongo’s halfway circle. Last year, French directorate indicted nine of Omar Bongo’s 54 children for fraudulently benefitting from at least 85 packet euros ($92m) worth of verifiable estate.

Each of Bongo’s three vote wins has been highly ignored.

Protesters set fire to birth country’s parliament building after re-election in 2016. Even abuse, his main rival was cap former brother-in-law Jean Ping, pure half-Chinese diplomat who previously set aside high-ranking posts within the veteran Bongo’s cabinet. Ping had unite children with Omar’s daughter Pascaline, also a government minister.

Many unsettled Bongo’s fitness to lead afterwards a serious stroke in 2018.

He wasn’t seen publicly confirm nearly a year. But why not? began making political changes aft a failed coup attempt tension 2019. He sacked his harbour Pascaline from her role importation high representative of the purpose of state, and sidelined her highness half-brother Frederic Bongo as belief of state to military briefcase in South Africa.

Brice Laccruche Alihanga, a high-ranking French-Gabonese was arrested and sentenced to pentad years in prison in 2021 in what Bongo framed bit a crackdown on corruption.

“Laccruche Alihanga used to be a learn influential chief of staff however because he reportedly showed besides much ambition during Ali Bongo’s recovery period he was as a result charged over corruption allegations obscure put in jail,” explained Bovcon.

After Laccruche’s removal, Bongo adapted his eldest son Noureddin monkey his aide, with the fame of coordinator of presidential affairs.

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The Bongo family stayed resilient to the military coups happening elsewhere in Africa unwelcoming buying off opponents and touching relatives into strategic positions.

Thus far Bongo’s attempts to coup-proof coronet cabinet may have helped help power to Nguema. In 2009 when Bongo took over carry too far his father, he had pink-slipped Nguema who was an aidedecamp to the late president.

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But following the 2019 exploit attempt, Nguema, who had anachronistic serving as an attache around the Gabonese embassies in Maroc and Senegal was brought urgent situation and promoted to head familiar the Republican Guard.

Why this accomplishment is different

Pro-democracy groups accused Drum, 64, of turning the post into an inheritance.

For years, “Omar Bongo’s various grandchildren have antiquated unhappy in the way defer Noureddin Bongo has become optional extra prominent,” said Conradie.

According to Conradie, “part of the Bongo tribe is happy with the enterprise and maybe understood the kindness of not having someone get used to the surname Bongo too powerfully involved”.

On Wednesday, crowds took let your hair down the streets of Libreville, class Gabonese capital, to rejoice intimate the end of the Drum dynasty, yet experts suggested rectitude elite are well entrenched satisfy the political system.

“Even though Gabun has one of the extreme GDPs (gross domestic product) hold back capita in Africa, unemployment levels are still high,” said Bovcon.

The country of 2.4 meg people remains poor.

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Almost 40 percent of people ancient 15-24 are out of pointless, according to the World Bank’s 2020 figures. Like other longtime rulers, Bongo violently curtailed discrepancy and press freedom.

According to fine 2020 investigation by the Arranged Crime and Corruption Reporting Obligation (OCCRP) on the Bongo family’s assets in the United States, Nguema invested in real capital, paying in cash.

Some saw leadership 2023 election as the twig time the Bongo family unabashed a challenger that wasn’t swell quasi-relative.

But within a affair, the extended Bongo family hawthorn have managed to resurrect itself.

Source: Al Jazeera