The stadium at Angondje held 40,000 people, and by the middle of the day on Saturday it was full. Brice Oligui Nguema, the general who toppled Gabon’s long-ruling Bongo family, was being sworn in as president for a seven-year term.
The vote that got him there was not close. Oligui won the April 12 election with nearly 95% of ballots, according to DW. Seven other candidates ran. Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze, the outgoing prime minister, came second with just 3%, and none of the other six cleared 1%.
“Today we celebrate democratic renewal,” Oligui said at the ceremony. He added: “I promise to serve, protect and unite all Gabonese, that is the meaning of my oath.” He also promised “a different Gabon, in line with our aspirations,” built on processing the country’s own raw materials instead of shipping them out.
That last pledge is the one investors will watch. Gabon sits on oil money, yet poverty touches a third of its 2.3 million people. AFP put the debt burden at a forecast 80 percent of GDP for this year. Oligui has described himself as a builder. During the transition he launched a string of construction projects and said he would crack down on corruption.
A guest list that made a point
Heads of state from across the continent travelled to Libreville. DW put the number at 16 other African leaders; AFP said some 20 arrived. Gambia’s Adama Barrow and Senegal’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye were there, as was Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang. Congo’s Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame of Rwanda also came, at a time when their two countries are in talks to halt fighting in eastern Congo.
Tickets were free. The venue, a stadium named Angondje that was put up to honor ties with China, had never hosted a swearing-in for an audience this large. Workers had spent days cleaning and repainting the roads leading to it, and the Interior Ministry asked residents near the venue to help tidy the area. A military parade and artistic performances filled the program, with a “victory concert” on the Libreville waterfront that evening.
What he inherits
Oligui is 50. He served under Omar Bongo and then under his son Ali Bongo, whom he removed in August 2023. Ali Bongo is also his cousin. The coup ended 55 years of dynastic rule and began 19 months of military-led transition, which this inauguration closes. When he took power, Oligui promised “free, transparent and credible elections” after a transitional period.
The problems he now owns are practical ones. The electricity grid is aging and fails often. Youth unemployment hovers around 40 percent. Roads are poor or missing. Legislative and local elections are due in September.
Sources
- Gabon ex-junta chief Brice Oligui Nguema becomes president (DW)
- Gabon swears in ex-junta chief Oligui as president (Arab News/AFP)
