"that they would never be logged, mined, hunted or farmed."" He was not beyond some measure of self-aggrandisement, ""thus, Gabon acquired Bongo University, Bongo Airport, numerous Bongo Hospitals, Bongo Stadium and Bongo Gymnasium. The president's hometown, Lewai, was inevitably renamed Bongoville."" On the international stage, Bongo cultivated an image as a mediator, playing a pivotal role in attempts to solve the crises in the Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 1986, Bongo's image was boosted abroad when he received the Dag Hammarskjold Peace Prize for efforts to resolve the Chad-Libya border"
"at least forty nations. After the service, Bongo's coffin was transported to his home village for burial on June 18. At the time of his death, Bongo had been Africa's longest serving leader. On 7 May 2009, the Gabonese Government announced that Bongo had temporarily suspended his official duties and taken time off to mourn his wife and rest in Spain. It was reported by the international media that he was seriously ill, and undergoing treatment for cancer in hospital in Barcelona, Spain. The Gabonese government maintained that he was in Spain for a few days of rest following the"
"however with the loss of its control over French Algeria it came to rely heavily on Gabon for its oil needs. In February 1964 French troops helped to overthrow the Gabonese regime during the 1964 Gabon coup d'état and French citizens spread rumors of American involvement in the coup which led to the 1964 United States Embassy in Libreville bombings. Omar Bongo ruled Gabon from 1967 until his death in 2009 and allowed extensive French military, political and economic involvement between Gabon and its former colonial master. Elf, the French national oil company, had extensive business dealings with Bongo's regime"
"Bureau of the Senate. Because the CLR leadership had already agreed that Assélé would not accept any post in the Bureau of the Senate below that of Third Vice-President, Assélé sent a letter to Senate President Rose Francine Rogombé on 17 February, notifying her that he declined the post of the Fourth Vice-President. After more than 41 years in power, Omar Bongo died on 8 June 2009. Assélé then urged the parties of the Presidential Majority to unite behind a single candidate for the August 2009 presidential election. The PDG selected Ali Bongo as its candidate; as Ali was a"
"on 5 January 2006, although it did annul the results from a single polling station in Koulamoutou due to a ""serious incident""; at that polling station, results showed Bongo receiving 150 votes, Myboto receiving 100 votes, and none of the other candidates receiving any votes. The elimination of that polling station's votes was insufficient to affect the outcome, and Bongo's victory was confirmed with an official score of 79.18%. 2005 Gabonese presidential election Presidential elections were held in Gabon on 27 November 2005. Incumbent President Omar Bongo, in power since 1967 (making him Africa's longest-serving ruler), sought another seven-year term"
"Observation Mission present in the country declared that observers had incurred problems accessing the process of vote counting. The right to demonstrate or express oneself was described by the mission as 'restrictive'. The electoral regulations benefitted President Bongo, according to the Mission's report. The president is elected by popular vote for a seven-year term. He appoints the prime minister. The Council of Ministers is appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president. President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba, in power since 1967 and the longest-serving African head of state, was re-elected to another seven-year term according to poll"
"election, although he was subsequently reduced to the rank of ordinary Minister on 28 December 2007. At the PDG's Ninth Ordinary Congress in September 2008, he was re-elected as a Vice-President of the PDG. Omar Bongo died at a Spanish hospital on 8 June 2009. Ali Bongo appeared on television that night to call ""for calm and serenity of heart and reverence to preserve the unity and peace so dear to our late father"". Having been appointed to key positions by his father, it was widely considered likely that he would emerge as his father's successor following the latter's death"
"understanding the country – to which might be added poverty, repression and polio... It is now one of Africa's biggest oil producers yet remains one of the world's poorest countries"". With the fall of Gaddafi, Dos Santos became Africa's longest serving leader, and the adoption in 2010 of a new constitution that abolished direct presidential election and eliminated the post of prime minister further strengthened his already extremely firm position. Although the new constitution contained strong language about the protection of freedom of expression, association, and assembly, Raul Danda of the opposition UNITA party called it ""a complete fraud"" and"
"another vote for the position of Fourth Vice-President on 15 September 2009, and Assélé was again elected to the post, receiving 80% of the vote. Assélé accepted the post on that occasion, despite his refusal earlier in the year. Bongo won the presidential election with about 42% of the vote, according to official results, but the opposition alleged fraud and appealed to the Constitutional Court in September 2009. One of the minor opposition candidates, Luc Bengone Nsi of MORENA, filed an appeal based on an accusation that Ali Bongo was an adoptive rather than natural son of Omar Bongo and"
"in the government or bought off, ensuring his comfortable re-election in 1998. In 2003, Bongo secured a change in the Constitution allowing him to seek re-election as many times as he wanted, and changing the Presidential term to seven years, up from five. Bongo's critics accused him of intending to rule for life. On 27 November 2005 Bongo won a seven-year term as president, receiving 79.2 percent of the vote, comfortably ahead of his four challengers. He was sworn in for another seven-year term on 19 January 2006 and remained president until his death in 2009. French culture, economy, and"
"nation the Central African Empire. Bokassa was also notorious as one of Africa's most brutal dictators, engaging in cannibalism, becoming so vicious that even the French could not stand supporting his regime anymore and thus the French Foreign Legion deposed the Emperor in 1979. Bokassa once nonchalantly told a French diplomat after his overthrow about the banquets he used to organize with the French style cooking that: ""You never noticed it, but you ate human flesh."" Omar Bongo, the long time dictator of Gabon from 1967 until his death in 2009 was described by ""The Economist"" in 2016 as ""every"
"elections saw some isolated protests, but no significant disturbances. Omar Bongo's son, ruling party leader Ali Bongo Ondimba, was formally declared the winner after a 3-week review by the Constitutional Court; his inauguration took place on October 16, 2009. The court's review had been prompted by claims of fraud by the many opposition candidates, with the initial announcement of election results sparking unprecedented violent protests in Port-Gentil, the country's second-largest city and a long-time bastion of opposition to PDG rule. The citizens of Port-Gentil took to the streets, and numerous shops and residences were burned, including the French Consulate and"
"Sherpa has been making from the first [...] and show that nobody should believe themselves above law. From now on, immunity is no longer a synonym of impunity"". March 19, 2014 the juges d'instruction of the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris indicted Teodorin Nguema Obiang for money-laundering. On March 30, 2009, Monaco opened an investigation into accounts in the name of Édith Bongo, who died March 14, 2009. Bongo was suspected of having acted as nominee in several banking establishments for both her husband and father, the presidents of Gabon and Republic of the Congo, respectively, in order to"
"and a friend of the family of Georges Rawiri, a prominent politician who became President of the Senate before his death in 2006. As President of the Senate, Rogombé was the constitutionally designated successor to the Presidency of the Republic in the event of a vacancy in the latter office; if this occurred, she was to serve only in an interim capacity prior to the holding of a new presidential election, in which she would not be allowed to run. Following the death of President Omar Bongo on 8 June 2009, the Constitutional Court designated Rogombé as interim President on"
"the large number of candidates, three of them were considered the key contenders for the Presidency; Ali Bongo Ondimba, the son of Omar Bongo, who was the candidate of the long-ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG); Pierre Mamboundou, a radical opposition leader who was backed by a coalition of parties; and André Mba Obame, a former PDG member who ran as an independent and won the backing of several other candidates. According to official results announced on 3 September 2009, Bongo won the elections with a plurality of 41.7% of the vote, while Mba Obame and Mamboundou both trailed with about"
"whose only aim is to share out privilege and power"". As the main opposition leaders had served prominently under Omar Bongo (and then gone into opposition after his death), Ping was characterized as the candidate of ""the old guard of Bongo senior's cronies"". Having already been abandoned by many of Omar Bongo's top associates in 2009, Bongo was undermined in subsequent years by the continuing defection of prominent politicians from the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party, such as Guy Nzouba Ndama and Léon Paul Ngoulakia. A weakening economy due to the decline in oil prices was thought to have contributed to"
"Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (; born 5 June 1942) is an Equatoguinean politician who has been President of Equatorial Guinea since 1979. He ousted his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema, in an August 1979 military coup and has overseen Equatorial Guinea's emergence as an important oil producer, beginning in the 1990s. Obiang was Chairperson of the African Union from 31 January 2011 to 29 January 2012. He is the second longest-serving non-royal national leader in the world. Obiang has been widely accused of corruption and abuse of power. In marked contrast to the trend toward democracy in"
"of the GDR parliamentary group. In September 2007, Zeng Ebome, acting as spokesman for leaders of the Presidential Majority, expressed firm support for President Bongo's project to exploit iron deposits in Bélinga in a statement on national television. He also criticized non-governmental organizations that opposed the project. When Bongo laid the foundation stone for the University of Oyem on 20 December 2007, Zeng Ebome spoke on the occasion and thanked Bongo. MAD held its Fourth Congress on 10 February 2008, reaffirming its participation in the Presidential Majority and re-electing Zeng Ebome as its President. Following Bongo's death in June 2009,"
"are serious tensions within the group, with considerable competition for power and favors. Between 1995 and 2004, much of the money extorted from the people of Equatorial Guinea by the Nguema/Mongomo group was deposited in Riggs Bank in Washington, D.C. According to Human Rights Watch, Riggs had been aware of the level of corruption and human rights concerns in the country. A 2004 U.S. Senate probe determined that Equatorial Guinea's oil-revenues account at Riggs Bank was controlled by three persons: President Obiang, Africa's longest-serving dictator; his son Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima (who is minister of mines); and his nephew, Melchor"
"was disliked by the PDG's reformist (""renovateurs"") wing, which was headed by Ali Bongo, he was nevertheless considered a potential successor to Omar Bongo. After Omar Bongo died on 8 June 2009, Ngari was considered perhaps the most formidable potential challenger to Ali Bongo in the contest for the PDG's presidential nomination, but he chose not to seek the nomination and it was won by Bongo. It was reported that Ngari briefly considered allying himself with Pierre Mamboundou, an old opponent of Omar Bongo and the PDG, but he nevertheless supported Bongo's campaign. Amidst the events of mid-2009, Ngari remained"
"of voting irregularities were overturned by the Constitutional Court, but the subsequent run-off elections in early 2007 again yielded a PDG-controlled National Assembly. On June 8, 2009, President Omar Bongo died of cardiac arrest at a Spanish hospital in Barcelona, ushering in a new era in Gabonese politics. In accordance with the amended constitution, Rose Francine Rogombé, the President of the Senate, became Interim President on June 10, 2009. The first contested elections in Gabon's history that did not include Omar Bongo as a candidate were held on August 30, 2009 with 18 candidates for president. The lead-up to the"
"President Bongo died in June 2009. After Bongo's son, Ali Bongo Ondimba, won the 30 August 2009 presidential election, Naki was removed from her post as Deputy Prime Minister and instead appointed as High Representative in charge of the Mandji Island Free Zone, a post at the Presidency of the Republic, on 17 October 2009. Dossou Naki is married to Samuel Dossou-Aworet, who was born in Cotonou but later became a naturalized citizen of Gabon and held various high-ranking positions; he was Omar Bongo's oil adviser for a time. After marriage, she continued to use her maiden name of Naki,"
"pursuit of peace. Among the ""senators for life"" are president of the Gambia Yahya Jammeh, African-American entrepreneur Charles Steele, Jr., and Kochin-Indian vocalist K. J. Yesudas. President of Gabon Omar Bongo was a ""senator for life"" and ""Grand Chancellor"" of the organization. He won the IPSP peace trophy of 2006, handed out in 2007. The President of Equatorial Guinea since 1979, Obiang Nguema, received a ""Gold Medal for the Liberties of Peoples"" from the IPSP in 2003. Nguema is also listed as the organization's vice-president. In 2010 IPSP drew international media attention after it secured Kentucky Colonel (2008) and Nebraska"
"by the Sherpa association of judges, which promotes corporate social responsibility. In 2009, Bongo spent his last months in a major row with France over the French inquiry. A French court decision in February 2009 to freeze his bank accounts added fuel to the fire and his government accused France of waging a ""campaign to destabilize"" the country. It is for this reason that he was hospitalized and spent his last days in Barcelona, Spain and not in France. [W]ith a neat mustache and piercing gaze often hidden behind dark glasses, he ruled... He was a short man, like many"
"Hifikepunye Pohamba, former President of Namibia, Current Chairperson of the Panel of the Wise; North Africa (Egypt) Mr. Amr Moussa, former Secretary-General of the League of Arab States; East Africa (Uganda) Dr. Specioza Wandira Kazibwe, former Vice President of Uganda; Central Africa (Gabon) Mrs. Honorine Nzet Biteghe, former Minister for Women and Family; West Africa (Liberia) Dr. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia. Southern Africa (Mozambique) Dr. Luisa Diogo, former Prime Minister of Mozambique, Current Chairperson of the Panel of the Wise; North Africa (Algeria) Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, former UN Envoy for Syria, among others; East Africa (Uganda) Dr."
"2009. Bongo's son, Ali Bongo, was then designated as the PDG candidate for the 30 August 2009 presidential election. Some leading PDG figures objected to Bongo's nomination and left the party; while Adiahénot did not quit the PDG, he also made no efforts to assist Bongo's presidential campaign. After Bongo won the election, Adiahénot was dismissed from the government on 17 October 2009. Having seen his influence within the PDG markedly reduced by Omar Bongo's death and Ali Bongo's election, Adiahénot then took up his seat in the National Assembly, representing the Fourth ""Arrondissement"" of Libreville. Adiahénot, who had led"
"oil wealth to enrich himself and his associates. In 2006, Forbes estimated his personal wealth at $600 million. In 2011, the government announced it was planning a new capital for the country, named ""Oyala"". , Obiang is Africa's longest serving dictator. The current president of Equatorial Guinea is Teodoro Obiang. The 1982 constitution of Equatorial Guinea gives him extensive powers, including naming and dismissing members of the cabinet, making laws by decree, dissolving the Chamber of Representatives, negotiating and ratifying treaties and serving as commander in chief of the armed forces. Prime Minister Francisco Pascual Obama Asue was appointed by"
"favours his son Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue to succeed him. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (; born 5 June 1942) is an Equatoguinean politician who has been President of Equatorial Guinea since 1979. He ousted his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema, in an August 1979 military coup and has overseen Equatorial Guinea's emergence as an important oil producer, beginning in the 1990s. Obiang was Chairperson of the African Union from 31 January 2011 to 29 January 2012. He is the second longest-serving non-royal national leader in the world. Obiang has been widely accused of corruption and abuse of"
"which involved illicit weapons sales to Angola during the 27-year civil war. The President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, claimed he wanted the ""Françafrique"" policy abolished. France has a big interest in Angola. The French oil giant Total which made a new offshore oil discovery in October 2009, has been expanding its presence in Angola. The country is the second largest contributor for production of Total after Nigeria. According to Angolan media, France and Portugal will allow extradition of leaders of the separatist movement in the wake of the 2010 attacks on Togo's football team for which FLEC claimed the responsibility."
"14 March 2009, four days after her 45th birthday in Rabat, Morocco, where she had been undergoing treatment for several months. The statement announcing her death did not specify the cause of death or the nature of her illness. She had not appeared in public for around three years preceding her death. She was buried on 22 March 2009 in the family cemetery in the northern town of Edou, in her native Congo. In all, Bongo had more than 30 children with his wives and other women. Bongo did also have some measure of scandal. In 2004, ""The New York"
"the 1994 Paris Conference and Accords, which provided a framework for the next elections. Local and legislative elections were delayed until 1996-1997. In 1997, constitutional amendments were adopted to create an appointed Senate, the position of Vice President, and to extend the president's term to seven years. Facing a divided opposition, President Omar Bongo was re-elected in December 1998, with 66% of the votes cast. Although the main opposition parties claimed the elections had been manipulated, there was none of the civil disturbance that followed the 1993 election. The president retains strong powers, such as authority to dissolve the National"
"history, having been president for 38 years. In 2005, his son Faure Gnassingbé was elected president. Togo is a tropical, sub-Saharan nation, whose economy depends highly on agriculture, with a climate that provides good growing seasons. While the official language is French, many other languages are spoken in Togo, particularly those of the Gbe family. The largest religious group in Togo consists of those with indigenous beliefs, and there are significant Christian and Muslim minorities. Togo is a member of the United Nations, African Union, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, Francophonie, and Economic Community of"
"Africa; and over the years it has assumed the following order: East, North, Southern, Central and West Africa. In January 2007, the assembly elected Ghanaian President John Kufuor over Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir due to the ongoing Conflict in Darfur. The government of Chad threatened to withdraw its membership if Sudan assumed the chair. Some had suggested Tanzania as a compromise candidate from the East African region. By consensus, Ghana was elected instead as it was celebrating its 50th independence anniversary that year. In January 2010, Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi unsuccessfully tried to extend his tenure by an additional year,"