Gabon’s President Bongo dies

LIBREVILLE – Gabon yesterday announced the death of its President Omar Bongo Ondimba, Africa’s longest-serving leader whose rule was tainted by corruption, locking its borders amid uncertainty over his successor.

After news of the 73-year-old’s death in a Spanish clinic was confirmed by Bongo’s prime minister, officials in the West African nation announced a 30-day period of national mourning amid appeals for calm among the population.Bongo, who had ruled the former French colony in west Africa since 1967, was understood to have been treated in a private clinic in Barcelona for intestinal cancer.Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong said in a statement that Gabon would observe a 30-day period of mourning, in which all flags would be flown at half-mast. Funeral arrangements would be announced later.He called on the Gabonese people to ‘remain united and stand together in contemplation and dignity’.In Libreville, deputy prime minister Georgette Koko announced Bongo’s death on state television and said he had ‘cherished unity and cohesion for the sake of real peace’.Bongo came to power in 1967 with French support and ruled over a state that grew rich on its abundant oil while most of the 1,5 million population remained poor.His demise has already raised fears of a power vacuum and initial reports of his death on Sunday night prompted many Libreville residents to dash to filling stations to stock up on fuel.Yesterday police and troops were posted at key points across Libreville, while residents complained that Internet access was cut, depriving them of international news.Bongo’s final months were marked by a row with Paris over a French inquiry into luxury properties he had bought in France and claims by anti-corruption activists they were acquired with embezzled state funds.A French court decision in February to freeze Bongo’s bank accounts added fuel to the fire, and his government accused France of waging a ‘campaign to destabilise’ the country.Bongo announced in March that he was suspending his duties in order to rest and mourn his 45-year-old wife Edith Lucie, the daughter of Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who died in Morocco after a long illness.Gabon was the first African country to host French oil giant Elf in the 1960s, from where the company operated as a state within a state, serving as a base for French military and espionage activities.The Paris trial in 2003 of former Elf chairman Loik Le Floch-Prigent revealed the extent of the corruption and shady dealings in Gabon’s booming oil business under Bongo.’Gabon without France is like a car with no driver. France without Gabon is like a car with no fuel,’ is how Bongo described the relationship between Paris and its former colony.President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed sadness over his death and said France is ‘at Gabon’s side’, but relations have deteriorated due to the French court decision to probe Bongo’s Paris properties.Sarkozy’s government is also considering dismantling its 1 000-strong army base in Libreville as part of a shake-up of its military presence in Africa.Bongo opted for medical care in Spain instead of Paris, where his predecessor Leon M’Ba died in 1967.Favourite to succeed him is his 50-year-old son Ali Ben Bongo, although observers said nothing was certain after such a long rule and in a country with many ethnic groups to satisfy.Ali Ben Bongo, a former foreign minister, was reshuffled by his father in 1999 to head the crucial defence ministry, a move seen as an bid to pre-empt to snuff out any would-be coups but also to shore up his possible succession.- Nampa-AFP