By Korede Abdullah
The military coup in Gabon in the early hours of today has finally closed the chapter of Bongo family’s political hold on power in the tiny oil rich Central African country. Ali Bongo, the country’s president had just been declared re-elected for a third-term in a massively flawed presidential election which indicated that he won more than 60 percent of the total number of votes cast. Father and son have ruled the tiny country since 1967! Just as the ripples and brouhaha of the military junta in Niger which came to power last month after it ousted the democratically elected president of the country, Muhammed Bazoum are yet to settle, another military coup has once reared its ugly head Bongo’s country quick succession.
I have carefully looked at most of those countries, especially in West Africa, where coups have taken place in recent times, like Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger Republic, Chad and Gabon, I discovered that they are all mainly former French colonies. Since their indepence in the 1960s (almost sixty years ago), these countries had been tied to France’s apron strings where the leaders had to kowtow to France and pander to her whims and caprices!
Where there were no sit-tight rulers, shambolic elections were held and manipulated to install the puppets while the levers of their natural resources and economies were being pulled by their former colonial master. The major catalyst was the growing wave of resentment against France in those countries, especially among the poor masses which had become so deep-seated that the soldiers had to intervene to yank off France from their political destinies.
In the case of Gabon whose president has just been unseated by the khaki boys this morning, he and his father have ruled the country for an unbroken period of 56 years! The young Bongo, Ali, succeeded his father after his death in 2009. The senior Bongo, Omar, was in power for 42 years after he staged a coup against the Gabonese civilian leader 1967. Since Ali Bongo succeeded his father in 2009, he has been using every political game and subterfuge to perpetuate himself and maintain a firm grip on power.
Ali’s late father and former president, Omar Bongo was stupendously affluent as he had amassed humongous wealth from the country’s oil revenues. He allegedly had 70 bank accounts, 39 apartments, many exotic cars which include 2 Ferraries, 6 Mercedes Benz, 3 Porsches and a Bugatti in his fleet in France. The senior Bongo put in place some infrastructures, especially good road networks. This didn’t trickle down to the Gabonese masses in terms of economic prosperity as the country and the people remain largely impoverished.
*Korede Abdullah is a lawyer and public affairs analyst