Embezzlement Scandal At Gabon’s Presidency (Part 4): Former President, ALI ben BONGO, Refused To Go on Exile Without His Wife And Eldest Son, Both In Detention For Embezzlement

The Arrest, And Incarceration, Of The Former First lady Of Gabon, SYLVIA BONGO, Reportedly Caused Panic Among Other First Ladies In In The Central Africa Region. The President Of The Transitional Gov’t In Gabon, General BRICE CLOTAIRE OLIGUI NGUEMA, Was Under Incessant Pressure From Leaders Of The Other Member States Of The Region, Especially The CEMAC Zone, To Release The Former First Lady.

When the Military Leader of Gabon, General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, ordered the release from house arrest of his cousin, the ousted President, Ali Bongo, just one week after the military takeover, it was announced that  that the former President was free to travel out of the country for medical attention. But then, Ali Bongo, who had not fully recovered from the severe stroke he suffered in 2018, did not travel out of the country.

It should be noted that, when the military regime in Gabon, said the former President, Ali Bongo, was free to leave the country for medical attention, what the regime expected of him was that he would go on  self-exile. The issue of the ousted President going on self – exile was even the more necessary for the case of Gabon, as the new military leader was a cousin of the ousted President. The continuous presence of Ali Bongo in the country, more so in the nation’s capital, Libreville, could only make his cousin, General Oligui Nguema, more uncomfortable. More so, it was no secret, that, it was Ali Bongo and his father and former President, Omar Bongo, that, made Brice Oligui Nguema, to grow into a very powerful  national security and military figure in Gabon, with all the advantages that go with it.

 Ali Bongo Poses Condition To Go On Exile

But dependable sources in Libreville, Gabon, in late 2023 confirmed some western media reports, that the former President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, had made it clear to the new military regime in the country, that he could not go on exile without his wife, Sylvia Bongo, and his first son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, both of whom were on pre – trial detention.  So, the condition that Ali Bongo set, for him to go on exile, was that the military regime headed by his cousin, General Oligui Nguema, should release his wife and eldest son, who were on pre-trial detention for alleged embezzlement of hundreds of billion FCFA of State funds.

Such a condition really complicated things for General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema.  From all indications, his target in the  August 30, 2023 coup as regard embezzlement of public funds, was the wife and first son of his cousin (Ali Bongo), that is, Sylvia Bongo and Noureddin Bongo Valentin, who had both been placed on pre –trial detention. So how could General Oligui Nguema order their release, more so, with all the very serious charges that were leveled against them? It looked impossible. But if Ali Bongo’s health situation degenerated, and he still refused to travel out of the country for medical attention, what would General Oligui Nguema do? Let’s not forget, they are not only cousins. As aforementioned, it was Ali Bongo’s father, Omar Bongo, as well as Ali Bongo himself, who made Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, to grow to become the most powerful military officer in Gabon. More so, if anything bad was to unfortunately happen to Ali Bongo in connection to his poor health, the Military Leader of Gabon, General Oligui Nguema, a member of the Bongo Clan, would certainly have had serious problems with the clan.

But then what about the fatherland, Gabon, from which Mrs Sylvia Bongo and her eldest son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, and his gang, ‘Young Team”, had reportedly stolen hundreds of billions of francs CFA? The money probably would have gone a long way to help in the development of the country and, the provision of basic necessities to the people, many of whom were living in poverty.  More so, the new military leader of Gabon, General Oligui Nguema, knew so well, that the Gabonese people were closely watching to see what would finally happen to the former First Lady and son that, had robbed the State so badly.

Incarceration Of Former First Lady Delayed General Oligue Nguema’s Visit To Cameroon

Meanwhile, the new Military Transitional Government which was officially known as the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions of Gabon, headed by Brigadier General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, worked hard behind the scene to finally secure the acceptance of the Presidents of the seven other member countries of CEEAC, to officially visit those countries to explained the reasons for the August 30, 2023 coup. He also wanted to plead that Gabon should not be suspended from the Economic Community of Central African States, commonly known by the French acronym, CEEAC. The President of the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions of Gabon, General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, started the tour of the Central African Region with a visit to Equatorial Guinea where he was received by President Obiang Nguema. The Gabonese Military Leader also travelled to Brazzaville, Congo Republic on October 1, and to Bangui, Central African Republic on October 4. He was in Djamena, Chad on October 9, and also travelled to Kinshasha, DR Congo on October 11, and was in Kigali, Rwanda, on October 16, 2023.  General Oligui Nguema was received in all the different countries by their Presidents.

General Oligui Nguema was supposed to end his visit to countries of the Central Arica Region, with a visit to Yaounde, Cameroon, a few days after the visit to Rwanda.  But Yaounde was so furious with the incarceration of the former First Lady of Gabon, Sylvia Bongo, on October 12, that the visit of General Oligui Nguema to Cameroon was put off. It took over a month of lobbying, for President Biya to finally accept to receive General Oligui Nguema in Cameroon, and this took place precisely on December 6, 2023.  Speaking at the end of the visit to Cameroon, the President of Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions in Gabon, General Brice Clotaire  Oligui Nguema, said : “I think the visit was important for us, because it was a visit of explanation of what is happening in Gabon”. That said it all.

Pressure For Release of Former First Lady

Meanwhile, the President of the Transitional Government in Gabon, Brigadier General Oligui Nguema, continued to be under pressure from the leaders of the other countries of CEEAC, to release the former First Lady of Gabon, Sylvia Bongo, who was on pre-trial detention at the Central Prison in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, since October 12, 2023, for alleged embezzlement of huge amounts of public funds. The demand by the leaders in Central Africa, for the release of the detained First Lady, was said to have put General Oligui Nguema in a very difficult situation. After all what the military regime has told the Gabonese people in particular, and the world at large,  about the serious criminal acts that were allegedly committed by the former First Lady, Sylvia Bongo, and her eldest son, Noureddin, how could the regime liberate them?

Unprecedented Happening And Panic Among First Ladies

It should be noted what happened in Gabon was unprecedented in Africa, and probably the world at large.  What normally, happens the world over is that, when a President is ousted from power by a coup d’etat or palace coup, it is the ousted President that is arrested and detained, while his wife and children  go  free, or go on exile. But in 2023 in Gabon, there was a situation where after a coup, the ousted President, Ali Bongo, was liberated after barely one week under house arrest, and it was instead his wife, Sylvia Bongo, who was placed under house arrest for over one month, and later moved to the Central Prison in the nation’s capital, Libreville, for pre – trial detention.

This reportedly caused panic, among other First Ladies in the Central African Region in particular, and the African Continent in general.  In the face of this, the First Ladies in the other Central African countries, were said to have mounted pressure on their husbands, to on their part pressurized the military leader of Gabon, General Oligui Nguema, to release the detained former First Lady, Sylvia Bongo. Besides the sympathy that the First Ladies had for their former Gabonese colleague, Sylvia Bongo, the y were said to be afraid that the unprecedented thing that happened in Gabon, might be adopted as a new system by coup plotters, that when there is a coup d’etat in an African country, the First Lady should also be arrested and jailed.

Meanwhile in late 2023 to early 2024, an allegation floated that a plan was being secretly worked out , with the complicity of the  leadership of the military regime in Gabon, to enable the incarcerated former First Lady, Sylvia Bongo, and her eldest son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, to ‘escape’ from their pre-trial detention centers, and leave the country.  It however remained an allegation.