A group of military officers on Wednesday, seized power in Gabon and declared the current President, Ali Bongo, deposed.
This comes just after he was re-elected for a third term in office! The military coup was a pretty sudden move, and it all happened shortly after the election results were announced.
Here are some interesting facts about Ali Bongo;
Alain Bernard Bongo who is popularly known as Ali Bongo was born on February 9, 1959, in Congo-Brazzaville.
He is the son of Omar Bongo, who was president of Gabon from 1967 until his death in 2009.
Ali Bongo served in various high-level government positions during his dad’s reign as president.
He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1991 and represented Bongoville as a Deputy in the National Assembly from 1991 to 1999, and was also the Minister of Defense from 1999 to 2009.
After his father’s death, he won the 2009 Gabonese presidential election.
Bongo, in an effort to reduce corruption and government bloat in 2009, he began efforts to streamline the government in which he removed 17 minister-level positions and abolished the vice presidency.
He was re-elected in 2016, in elections marred by numerous irregularities, arrests, human rights violations and post-election protests and violence.
In October 2018, Bongo suffered a stroke that sidelined him for 10 months. The episode stoked claims he was unfit to rule and fuelled a minor attempted coup.
Bongo is married to French-born Sylvia Valentin with whom he has four children.
On August 30, 2023, Bongo’s bid for a consecutive third term was unsuccessful after the nation’s army officers under the CTRI took over power, thereby bringing an end to his 14-year rule.