Former President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, Has Announced His Withdrawal From Politics, And Has Asked The Gabonese People For Forgiveness

 Bongo has made a strong call for the release of his incarcerated wife and son that he insists are innocent, and says he too is not a free man.

 Says: “I am isolated from the outside world, with no communications, no news from my family”.

Bongo has condemned what he terms politics of revenge, hate and torture, and says what Gabon needs is politics of appeasement and reconciliation.

The former President of Gabon, 64 year old Ali Bongo Ondimba, has announced his withdrawal, or better still his retirement from politics, while at the same time asking the Gabonese people to find a place in their heart to forgive him for any wrong or error he might have committed, when he was President of the country. He has promised the Gabonese people that he will never again have any political ambition, and that he will also never be associated to anything that can destabilize the country, or anything that poses a threat to the ongoing reconstruction of the country.

The declarations by the former President, Ali Bongo Ondimba, are contained in a message he has addressed to the Gabonese people. Worthy of note, that President Ali Bong was force to leave power in the night of August 29 breaking August 30, 2023, following a military takeover. His French wife, Sylvia, and his first son, Noureddin, have been in detention since then.

Bongo Says He Respects The Desire Of Gabonese To Get New Political Leaders  

“In the night of August 29, 2023, I ended my tenure as Head of State under painful circumstances”, Ali Bongo says in the message he has addressed to the Gabonese people. He adds that what happened in the night of August 29, 2023, brought to power a transitional mechanism, which in the months ahead will move the country in a new path, as the Gabonese people will be given the opportunity to elect their new President. He says he respects and understands the will of the people, and their desire to get new political leaders. He has reaffirmed his decision to withdraw from politics, and not to ever have any political ambition.

Former President Ali Bongo says he was aware that an evolution was necessary in Gabon to improve on the lives of the citizens. “I believed for a longtime that I could change the system that eventually turned against my family, a symbol of an era”, he says.

Condemns Politics Of Hate, And Urges For Politics Of Appeasement

Former President Ali Bongo has asserted that Gabon has always being, and should remain a country of honour. He has prayed for politics of appeasement in Gabon, and has made a strong call to stop what he terms violence and torture against his family, especially his wife, Sylvia, and his son, Noureddin. He says they have been imprisoned for crimes they never committed, thus are not guilty of the charges, and thus should be released. He said his wife and son went through many challenging times when he was President. “But their incarceration and the abuse they have suffered for more than a year now, goes beyond anything a wife and son have to endure”,  Ali Bongo fumes.

As for him, the former President, who is not in prison, however discloses that he is not a free man, and that he is under military surveillance, and that his movements are controlled. He says he is subjected to get military clearance to do anything, saying that he is isolated from the outside world with no communication, and no news from his family.

Ali Bongo says he is aware of what were accomplished under his presidency, as well the shortcomings that occurred and for which he takes responsibility. He says he was that President, and not his family, and that it is the President that takes responsibility for whatever happened under his presidency, and not his family. “I was the President, and I am responsible for all the decisions I took, and not my family”, he has insisted. He further insists that there is no justification for the abuse being perpetuated against his wife and son, “who have not hug their children for over a year now”.

The former President says he knows Gabonese well, and that he certain that they know the difference between justice and revenge.  Ali Bongo finally has called on the current leadership of Gabon as well as the entire citizens of Gabon to denounce revenge, and strive to write the new or next history of Gabon with harmony and a sense of humanity.

 Charges Against Former First Lady And Son

It would be recalled that Ali Bongo who succeeded his late father, Omar Bongo as President of Gabon in 2009, was struck by a serious stroke in 2018 that partly paralyzed his body. Though partly incapacitated, Ali Bongo hung on as President of Gabon. But the President’s wife, Sylvia Bongo, and his eldest son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, allegedly exploited the President’s health situation to falsify his signature to steal huge sums of State funds, as well as to carryout appointments to strategic posts, and so on.

But Ali Bongo’s attempt to fraudulently get another mandate, a third mandate as President of the Republic, led to a coup d’etat in the early hours of August 30, 2024. Ali Bongo’s cousin, Brigadier General Brice Clotaire  Oligui Nguema, whom he appointed Coordinator of the Presidential Guard, apparently led the coup and became the President of the Committee for the Transition and  Restoration of Institutions in Gabon. To put it short, General Oligue Nguema became the President of Transition, or the President of the Transitional Government of Gabon.

The eldest son of the former President Ali Bongo was arrested together with four others on the same day that the coup d’etat took place, that is, on August 30. 2023, and have since been on pretrial detention. The former First Lady, Sylvia Bongo, was initially placed under house arrest, and was later moved to the Libreville Central Prison, after she was first taken to the Attorney General.  She too is on pretrial detention. The former First Lady and her son are facing similar charges, which include: High treason, Embezzlement of public funds, Fraud, Corruption, Falsification of the signature of the President of the Republic, Drug trafficking, among others.