Gabon’s foreign minister, Michael Moussa Adamo died after suffering heart attack during a cabinet meeting.
Moussa Adamo who died at age 62, is a long-standing ally of President Ali Bongo Ondimba.
The news of his death was disclosed by the government and a Presidential source on Friday.
According to the government, He suffered a heart attack and died “despite efforts by specialists” to revive him.
According to AFP, the source disclosed that “Moussa sat in the waiting room” awaiting a cabinet meeting “in the presence of some of his government colleagues and began to feel unwell”
Reacting to his death, the president described Moussa Adamo on Twitter as “a great diplomat, a true statesman”.
“To me, he was firstly a friend, loyal and faithful, on whom I have always been able to count on. It’s a huge loss for Gabon,” he added.
Moussa Adamo was born in the northeastern town of Makokou in 1961 and started out as a presenter on national television.
In 2000, he was made chief of staff for the defence minister, who at the time was Bongo.
When Bongo was elected president on the death of his father Omar Bongo Ondimba in 2009, Moussa Adamo served as his special advisor.
After a decade as Gabon’s ambassador to the United States until 2020, he became, first, defence minister and then foreign minister in March last year.