Coup in Gabon: Ali Bongo, the upset heir, president for 14 years

Is the more than half-century unchallenged reign of the Bongo family in Gabon coming to an end? After the announcement of Ali Bongo's re-election for a third term, soldiers declared to "put an end to the regime" in Libreville, in a speech on state television. They claimed, in the Gabonese capital, to take power.

After a failed coup d'état in 2019, during which the military tried to take advantage of the president's poor state of health, Ali Bongo could therefore be deposed for good. The Gabonese head of state, elected for the first time in 2009, has been criticized since the start of his political career for having inherited power from his father Omar Bongo, president of the Gabonese republic from 1967 to 2009. I earned my place, it didn't fall to me like that. On the contrary, my name was a handicap,” Ali Bongo defended himself the day after his election to the presidency in 2009.

Born Alain-Bernard Bongo, before his father's conversion to Islam, “Ali” continued his education in France before starting law studies at the Sorbonne. He tries his hand at music, with a disco album that does not meet with the hoped-for success. Then finally returned quite quickly to politics, under the instructions of his father who integrated him into the Gabonese Democratic Party, then the only party, and into the government.

He campaigned for a multiparty system and rose through the ranks to become Minister of Defence. He remained in this position until 2009, more discreet than the other members of the family who surround Bongo father in key positions in the exercise of power. Reserved, cautious no doubt, and certainly uncomfortable building up a close guard, Ali Bongo imposed himself despite everything in 2009 as a candidate for the succession of his late father. Omar Bongo had never dubbed him, but has worked since he was 30 to promote his political career.

On the death of his father, he is propelled as the natural heir. During his campaign, he advocates "change" as if to respond to his detractors who reproach him for his ancestry. And repeats over and over again that being his father's son is a handicap rather than an advantage at the polls. Its “Peace, Development, Sharing” program is reassuring at a time of unprecedented transition after 41 years of political stability. Despite demonstrations against his candidacy and criticism of the Gabonese "monarchy", Ali Bongo was largely elected with more than 41% of the vote.

Bongo junior then undertakes what his father, a fine diplomat but poor manager, could not do. It leads a policy of major works and displays its ambition to get out of precariousness the 30% of Gabonese affected by poverty. The unconvincing balance sheet always serves its detractors who criticize its lack of charisma and authority.

His re-election in 2016 is played with 5500 votes, officially. Its opponents, as in 2009, cry fraud and the international press relays the suspicions hanging over the ballot. Violent demonstrations break out but the heir president maintains his power by dismissing his closest collaborators at the slightest suspicion.

Ali Bongo is struggling to keep his promises. Among the richest countries in Africa, Gabon still suffers from an undiversified economy, based on the income from its natural resources, which are minerals, wood and especially oil. Black gold represents 38.5% of Gabonese GDP and 70.5% of its export revenues. But the country is in the second half of the table of the most corrupt countries on the African continent, and a third of its population remains below the poverty line even though the population has doubled in 25 years. The head of state can undoubtedly boast of virtuous management of Gabonese forests which feed the second green lung of the planet, but in society, the gap is widening between poor and rich and we believe the hours of Bongo dynasty counted.

First warning signal, the president suffered a stroke in 2018 and disappeared from the public scene for several months. Is the Bongo dynasty faltering? The following year, a failed coup d'etat, the first since the Bongo era, gave hope to the president's opponents, even if the strange attempt led by an unconvincing group of soldiers left little doubt as to the its outcome.

Since then, Ali Bongo has risen from the ashes, according to his supporters. Unless it is precisely those around him who cling resolutely to a dynasty that has never ceased to disappoint the most precarious classes of the population.