Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon president Ali Bongo has insisted that that the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) will go ahead in his crisis-ridden country. The CAN is due to take place from January 14 to February 5 next year but was thrown into doubt after violence broke …
Read More »Ali Bongo to be sworn in as Gabon president today
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Ali Bongo will be sworn in on Tuesday as Gabon’s president for a second seven-year term, his office announced, three days after his election victory was controversially validated by the constitutional court. The ceremony will be held at the seafront presidential palace in Libreville, the …
Read More »EU says Gabon court failed to address poll ‘anomalies’
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | EU monitors said Sunday that Gabon’s top court had failed to rectify vote-counting “anomalies” in fiercely-disputed elections in which President Ali Bongo extended his family’s rule in the oil-rich nation into a fifth decade. The European Union’s electoral observer mission said it “regretted” that Gabon’s …
Read More »Africa’s disputed elections
Paris, France | AFP | Gabon’s disputed election, which culminated Saturday with the constitutional court’s confirmation of President Ali Bongo’s victory, is the latest in a long list of violence-tinged ballots in Africa: Ivory Coast After a five-month-standoff, incumbent Laurent Gbagbo was detained on April 11, 2011 by forces …
Read More »Gabon’s Ali Bongo: dynastic scion in his father’s shadow
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Ali Bongo, whose re-election victory was upheld by Gabon’s constitutional court Saturday, has long sought to emerge from the shadow of his father, Omar Bongo, who ruled the country for 41 years until his death in 2009. Bongo, a stockily-built 57-year-old, is variously known by …
Read More »Gabon court upholds President Ali Bongo’s election win
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon’s constitutional court has upheld President’s Ali Bongo’s re-election victory, rejecting an appeal by rival Jean Ping, who had called for a recount over widespread allegations of fraud. The court, while partially changing the results of the close August 27 vote, said Bongo maintained a …
Read More »Tense Gabon awaits court ruling on presidential vote
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon’s constitutional court is to rule as early as Friday who will be the country’s next president, ending weeks of uncertainty after disputed polls sparked a political crisis and violent protests. Incumbent President Ali Bongo, the son of late autocratic ruler Omar Bongo, was declared …
Read More »Gabon rivals reach tenuous deal on poll recount
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Lawyers for President Ali Bongo and opposition leader Jean Ping told AFP on Tuesday said they have agreed to a poll recount for August’s contested presidential vote, though the methodology remains in dispute. “The parties have reached agreement on a vote recount,” said Ping’s lawyer …
Read More »Gabon under internet blackout as it awaits key poll ruling
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | An internet curfew and social media blackout has sparked outrage and wreaked havoc on businesses in oil-rich Gabon, as citizens keenly await a pivotal ruling challenging President Ali Bongo’s contested re-election. “We are losing a lot of money,” fumed Steeve Ndong, who oversees the website …
Read More »It’s ‘Dallas’ in Gabon as country awaits key vote ruling
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | The head of Gabon’s top court, which has the pivotal task of ruling if President Ali Bongo’s contested re-election is valid, is a former beauty queen whose affair with the leader’s father produced two children. Marie-Madeleine Mborantsuo is in the limelight in this oil-rich Central …
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