From Gabon’s independence in 1960 to Wednesday’s coup against outgoing President Ali Bongo, who has been in power for 14 years, here are ten major dates in the country’s history gathered by AFP.
1. 1960: Independence
Gabon, a former French possession, declared independence on August 17, 1960. Léon Mba became president in February 1961. Three years later, he was deposed by a coup and restored to power by French military intervention.
2. 1967: Omar Bongo in power for 41 years
Albert-Bernard Bongo took power after Léon Mba died in December 1967. He established the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) as the sole political party and dominated the country with an iron grip, benefitting especially from the oil bonanza. After converting to Islam in 1973, he took the name El Hadj Omar Bongo, to which he added his father’s surname, Ondimba, in 2003.
He was the sole contender and was elected president three times: in 1973, 1979, and 1986. Serious social discontent erupted into riots from January to April 1990. Although a multi-party system was implemented in May, Omar Bongo won every presidential election (1993, 1998, and 2005) against an opposition that he either divided or galvanized to his cause.
3. 2009: Ali Bongo, the heir
Ali Bongo Ondimba, the son of Omar Bongo, who died in June, was inaugurated in as president on October 16, 2009. He was elected in a contested race in August. Several individuals were killed as a result of post-election rioting and looting in Port-Gentil (west).
The opposition accused the government of “authoritarian drift.”
In 2010, the French justice system launched an investigation into Omar Bongo and certain of his relatives’ substantial wealth collected in France (“biens mal acquis” issue).
4. 2014: Social tensions
During a prohibited rally demanding Ali Bongo’s departure in December 2014, violent skirmishes erupted between demonstrators and police.
Faced with an economic crisis caused by the collapse of oil prices in 2014-2015, the regime is dealing with rising societal tensions.
5. 2016: post-election violence
The announcement of Ali Bongo Ondimba’s re-election in the August 2016 presidential election sparks unprecedented violence in Gabon, with hundreds of people arrested, the National Assembly set on fire, and security forces assaulting the outgoing president’s rival, Jean Ping’s, headquarters. According to the authorities, three persons were killed, but the opposition claims thirty.
6. 2018: Ali Bongo suffers a stroke
Ali Bongo suffered a stroke in Saudi Arabia on October 24, 2018, placing him out of commission for several months while recuperating abroad and then in Gabon.
7. 2019: failed coup
An attempted military coup fails on January 7, 2019.
A wave of arrests shocked the country in November amid suspicions of wrongdoing. Noureddin Bongo Valentin, Ali Bongo’s eldest son, is appointed “coordinator of presidential affairs” on December 5.
8. 2022: nine Bongo children indicted in France
Nine of Omar Bongo’s children were indicted in France between March and July 2022, primarily for misappropriating state funds as part of the “ill-gotten gains” probe. The courts have assigned a value of “85 million euros” to this home, which was built in France with public funds stolen from Gabon.
9. April 2023: Revision of the Constitution
Parliament approved in April 2023 to amend the Constitution, lowering the presidential term from seven to five years and returning to a single ballot.
Part of the opposition sees this as a ploy to ensure Ali Bongo’s re-election with a relatively large majority.
10. August 2023: Post-electoral coup d’état
Shortly after Ali Bongo’s re-election (with 64.27% of the vote), the military said that it had “put an end to the regime” on August 30.