Ali Bongo: From Ousted to Freedom

On Wednesday, the leader of the military coup that overthrew Gabon’s former president Ali Bongo said that he is free to leave the nation and travel abroad.

In a statement presented on state television, general Brice Oligui Nguema said, “He has freedom of movement… and can travel abroad if he wishes.”

The military took over on August 30 after Bongo’s party declared him the winner in a fraudulent election. There was no violence and Bongo was put under house arrest. He had been in power for 14 years..

The former President of the Republic, Ali Bongo Ondimba, can travel freely given his health. Colonel Ulrich Manfoumbi said this from a press statement that Oligui signed on Monday after taking the oath of office as interim president. “He can travel abroad if he wishes to carry out his medical checks,” Manfoumbi remarked.

In October 2018, Bongo experienced a severe stroke that left him physically disabled, with particular difficulties using his right arm and leg.

Bongo became president in 2009 after his father, Omar, who ruled for 41 years and was known for corruption and oppressive rule, passed away..

In 2016, he was re-elected amid fierce controversy, but two years later, he had a stroke that made him less able to hold on to power.

According to the official, contested figures, Bongo received 64.27 percent of the vote, compared to Ondo Ossa’s 30.77 percent.

After the coup, Ondo Ossa asked Oligui to step aside, asserting that although he had won the elections, the military takeover had “cancelled” the results.

He also claimed that Oligui and Bongo were related, and that the incident was less of a coup than it was a “palace revolution” that was currently maintaining what he termed the “Bongo system.”