Tag Archives: GABON

Gabon: France Says It Won’t Meddle In African Politics

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France Foreign Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, has warned that the country’s day of meddling in African countries’ politics were over. Ayrault said this on Friday in Paris, as Gabon its former colony counted the cost of riots that followed a disputed election.

“We are Africa’s partners but we do not want in any case to intervene in countries’ internal affairs. That would be disrespectful of Africans, they don’t ask for it. “France acts only when countries requested Paris’ help,” he said.
Alain-Claude Nze, Gabonese Government Spokesman, told French television that the government expected France to help ease tensions and bring both sides to a peaceful resolution.

Bongo’s allies also expressed anger over a French Socialist Party statement declaring that early results showed challenger Jean Ping to be the winner. They accused it of failing to respect the sovereignty of a country where 14,000 French citizens live, and which hosts a French military base with 450 troops.

They said it harked back to the era of La Francafrique, when Paris played puppet-master in African countries decades after post-colonial independence, propping up leaders like Bongo’s father in exchange for pushing business to French firms.

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http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/09/gabons-election-turmoil-france-says-it-wont-meddle-in-african-politics/

Gabonese President Ali Bongo Allegedly Found To Be Igbo, Adopted From Nigeria During Biafra War

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Indications have emerged that the President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba is a Nigerian of the ethnic Igbo stock. It is said that he was adopted during the Biafran war by his father, Omar Bongo who handed over to him as President.

 

This development may soon be confirmed as a court in western France on Thursday allowed a family member of Omar Bongo to view the birth certificate of Ali Bongo following accusations that he lied about his country of origin.

 

The Gabonese constitution demands that one must be born Gabonese to serve as the head of state, but French investigative journalist, Pierre Pean alleged in a recent book that the President was actually a Nigerian and was adopted during the Biafran war in the late 1960s.

 
The court in Nantes allowed 25-year-old Onaida Maisha Bongo Ondimba, a daughter of former president Omar Bongo, to view the documents in full, which her lawyer, Eric Moutet hailed the decision as “enormous”, though “diplomatically complex”.

 

Ali Bongo is the only one of ex-president Omar Bongo’s 54 declared heirs not to have produced the identification documents. He claims he was born in Brazzaville in 1959, former capital of French Equatorial Africa.

 

The Nantes civil registration centre is responsible for all birth certificates of people born in French Equatorial Africa up to 1960, when the former colonial countries in the region gained independence to become Gabon, Congo, Chad and the Central African Republic.

 

Credit : Daily Post

Lionel Messi Dressed ‘Like He Was Going To A Zoo’ – Gabon Political Party

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Gabon’s political opposition have accused Lionel Messi of showing a “lack of respect for standards and principles” after the Barcelona star met the African nation’s president wearing denim shorts and a T-shirt.

Messi, 28, jetted into Gabon earlier this week on the first leg of a five-day visit to Africa, and met President Ali Bongo Ondimba in relaxed clothing.

A statement from the Union du Peuple Gabonais (UPG) party read: “The messiah of football arrived in Gabon like he were going to a zoo: dirty, unshaven and his hands in his pockets, looking for peanuts to throw to them!

“When you’re called Lionel Messi and you’re a multi-billionaire, you don’t have the right to present yourself to officials of a republic, even a banana one, with your hands in the pockets of a ripped, tattered pair of shorts.

“Gabon isn’t a zoo. We don’t know what the Argentine came to Gabon for, but we at least have the right to denounce his negligence and his lack of respect for standards and principles. We are uneasy with Messi’s attitude and his attire. Only for these reasons, linked to respect for the host country, do we condemn the footballer’s indelicateness, to say the least!”

Luis Enrique admits he’s not happy about the extent of Barcelona’s travelling as they begin their tour of the United States, although he insists it’s good to visit new places.

President Bongo himself drove Messi through the streets of the Gabonese capital, Libreville, in a jeep before the Argentina international laid the first stone of the stadium at Port-Gentil, which will stage Africa Nations Cup final tournament matches in 2017.

France Football reported that Messi was paid €3.5 million for the visit, which was reportedly organised by Samuel Eto’o, a confidante of President Bongo.

However, that claim was denied by Messi, who — according to El Mundo Deportivo — has asked France Football to rectify the report, and state that he did not receive a single cent for the visit. The Spanish paper said it had independently verified that Messi was not paid.