Focus shifts to Gabon after Zambian election

Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba gestures as he speaks to journalists during an interview in Libreville on August 12, 2016. PHOTO | STEVE JORDAN | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Ahead of next Saturday’s election, tension is high with increased police presence in capital Libreville.

  • Fourteen candidates have been approved by the electoral commission.

  • Ali Bongo’s main challenger is former African Union Commission Chairperson Jean Ping, who was selected by opposition barons.

Hot on the heels of the Zambian election, an anxiously awaited election is looming in Gabon where President Ali Bongo Ondimba and his motley opponents are rounding off campaigns.

Ahead of next Saturday’s election, tension is high with increased police presence in capital Libreville. Fourteen candidates have been approved by the electoral commission.

Bongo’s main challenger is former African Union Commission chief Jean Ping who was selected by opposition barons.

Bongo is seeking a second seven-year term even as the Opposition challenges his eligibility.

In the meantime, the situation in Zambia has remained commendably calm following the August 11 election. The final results were released on Monday after a delay that had the country on tenterhooks.

Contrary to predictions that there would be a re-run, President Edgar Lungu of the ruling Patriotic Front party emerged victor in the fiercely fought race.

Amid claims of rigging, he garnered 1,860,877 votes, earning a 50.3 per cent win against main challenger Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development who received 1,760,347 votes.

FAIT ACCOMPLI

Despite claims by UNDP that the vote was stolen, President Lungu’s re-election for his first full term seems to be fait accompli, particularly following congratulatory messages from top global figures, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, his predecessor Koffi Annan, Malawi President Peter Mutharika, Botswana leader Ian Khama and former US President Jimmy Carter.

The EU election observation mission was quick to congratulate President Lungu despite noting that there was a “compromised environment during the pre-election period, which included violence”.

In Gabon, the top candidates have close links, given that the 57-year-old Ali Bongo is supposed to be the son of former long-term leader Omar Bongo.

Opposition activists say the younger Bongo is a Nigerian who was adopted in the 1960s during the Biafra War. President Bongo says the claims are nonsense.

Ping, 73 was the older Bongo’s son-in-law, having married his eldest daughter with whom he had two children. He later married an Ivorian and is a father of eight.

Omar Bongo ruled Gabon from 1967 until his death in 2009 and was described as a corrupt despot. His rule saw the country tap new-found oil wealth.

Detractors accuse the Bongo family of stifling democracy, usurping the country’s vast wealth and preventing the oil benefits from trickling to ordinary citizens.

Ping has a long history of public life. He served as AU Commission chairperson from 2008 to 2012. A bid for a second term was cut short when he was defeated by Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Before assuming high office in the AU, Ping served his father-in-law’s government in different cabinet positions. For 10 years, he was the country’s foreign minister.