Gabon's ousted leader and family 'released' and in Angola
Bongo, whose family ruled oil-rich Gabon for 55 years, had been under house arrest in the capital Libreville since being overthrown in August 2023.
His wife and son had also been in detention, accused of embezzling public funds.
A statement on the Angolan presidency's Facebook page announcing the arrival of the Bongo family in the capital Luanda was accompanied by photographs showing the former leader being welcomed at an airport.
The "Bongo family has been released and has just arrived in Luanda," it said.
The release of the family followed talks between Angolan President Joao Lourenco and Gabon's new leader, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, the statement said, without elaborating.
Lawyers for the Bongos in France said their release had been the "result of long efforts on both the judicial and diplomatic levels.
"After 20 months of arbitrary and cruel detention accompanied by torture, the family is finally reunited around the former president Ali Bongo," they said in a statement.
But a prosecutor in Libreville said Bongo's French-born wife Sylvia, 62, and son Noureddin, 33, had only been provisionally freed awaiting a trial for alleged embezzlement.
Prosecutor Eddy Minang said the pair's release "does not in any way interrupt the normal course of the proceedings, which will continue until a fair, transparent, equitable and timely trial is held".
'BOW TO DEMANDS'
Oligui, a former junta leader, seized power in the August 2023 coup that ended the 55-year rule of the Bongo dynasty.
The general was sworn in earlier this month after winning 94.85% in an April 12 vote in which international observers signalled no major irregularities.
Oligui's main rival, Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze, the last prime minister under Bongo, said the family's release demonstrated that their detention "did not respect the framework of law and justice.
"President Oligui Nguema did not show clemency: he had to bow to international demands after what everyone understood to be an abuse of power," he said.
Lawyers for Sylvia and Noureddin alleged they had suffered torture while in detention.
Several Gabonese news media reported recently that they had been moved from cells in an annex of the presidency to a family residence in Libreville.
'REAL DISGRACE'
A member of Gabon's transitional parliament, Geoffroy Foumboula Libeka, said the move of the family "in the middle of the night and in total silence" was "a real disgrace for the first days" of the new government.
"Where is Gabon's sovereignty?" he asked on social media.
The Bongo family's release, he said, was "the price to pay" for the country's reintegration into the African Union, which is currently headed by Angolan leader Lourenco.
The African Union announced on April 30 that it had lifted sanctions against Gabon, which was suspended from the organisation following the coup.
The country of 2.3 million people has endured high unemployment, regular power and water shortages, and heavy government debt despite its oil wealth.
The Gabon presidency announced on social media on May 12 that Lourenco had met Oligui in Libreville for talks focused "on strengthening bilateral cooperation, the smooth running of democratic elections marking the end of the transition in Gabon".
They also discussed the lifting of sanctions following Gabon's reintegration into the AU.
Bongo, 66, who is suspected to be in poor health, came to power in 2009, taking over from his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, who ruled for 41 years.
In 2016, he was narrowly re-elected for a second term by a few thousand votes, beating opposition challenger Jean Ping after a campaign marred by bloody clashes and allegations of fraud.
He suffered a stroke in October 2018 while on a visit to Saudi Arabia, and there was speculation about his health and fitness to govern when he returned home.
His public appearances were rare, and the times when he spoke live outside the confines of the presidential palace were rarer still.
Bongo ruled for 14 years until he was overthrown moments after being proclaimed the winner in a presidential election the army and opposition declared fraudulent.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Eyewitness News
an hour ago
- Eyewitness News
Ramaphosa arrives in Tokyo for African Development Summit
JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa has arrived in Japan to lead South Africa's high-level delegation participation in the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development Summit. The summit will kick off in Yokohama on Wednesday. It's expected to strengthen ties between the African Union and Japan. This includes talks on trade and investment, as well as peace and stability. Ramaphosa said the summit comes when multilateralism and collective solutions to common challenges are crucial. He said the AU's discussions with the government of Japan present an opportunity for the two sides to engage in discussions that seek to foster collective solutions to these challenges. The spokesperson in the presidency, Vincent Magwenya, said, "President Ramaphosa will engage with leading captains of Japanese industry and business. Japan is one of South Africa's major economic partners with sizeable investments in the South African economy, and the potential for further investments exists.'
The Citizen
3 hours ago
- The Citizen
24 hours in pictures, 19 August 2025
24 hours in pictures, 19 August 2025 Through the lens: The Citizen's Picture Editors select the best news photographs from South Africa and around the world. Firefighters fight with the forest fire at Malhada do Rei, Pampilhosa da Serra, Portugal, 18 August 2025. Forest fires have burned in Portugal 185.753 hectares to date, causing two deaths, including a firefighter, and several injuries, most of them minor, and completely or partially destroyed primary and secondary residences, as well as farms, livestock operations, and forest areas. Picture: EPA/PAULO NOVAIS Humboldt penguins are weighed during a photo call for the annual weigh-in at London Zoo in London, Britain, 19 August 2025. Animals at the London Zoo are measured and weighed annually to check on their health and well-being. Picture: EPA/NEIL HALL Environmental protesters demonstrate, 19 August 2025, outside the head offices of Standard Bank in Rosebank as they protest against the actions of Total Energies in Africa. The protesters marched between Standard Bank and Total Energies claiming the French energy giant is involved in land grabs, displacement of local populations, and ecological devastation surrounding its energy involvement in Africa, including the East African Crude Oil Pipeline Project (EACOP). Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen A scaled model of the Statue of Liberty is displayed draped in a Ukrainian flag in the gardens of the French Embassy in Washington, DC, USA, 18 August 2025. European Leaders are at the White House in support of President Zelenskyy following President Trump's meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia in Anchorage, Alaska, USA, on 15 August 2025. Picture: EPA/YVES HERMAN / POOL A tourist dressed in a traditional Qing dynasty costume poses for a photo on a street in Beijing, China, 18 August 2025. The Great Qing dynasty was the last imperial dynastied of China from 1644 to 1911/12. Picture: EPA/WU HAO Members of the guard of honor prepare ahead a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, 19 August 2025. King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is on a state visit to Vietnam from 18 to 22 August. Picture: EPA/LUONG THAI LINH / POOL Funeral of the four year old Eldorado Park girl known as Baby Nikita at Don Mateman Hall in Eldorado Park, 19 August 2025, before going to her final resting place at Nasrec memorial park. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen E-hailing operators during a march to the offices of the Gauteng MEC of Transport and the Provincial Legislature to hand over a memorandum of demands on August 19, 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The group is calling for industry regulation, fair pricing to be set and other key changes. (Photo by Gallo Images/Luba Lesolle) Boatmen cross the waters of Dal Lake during rain in Srinagar, India, 18 August 2025. A heavy rain alert has been announced in Kashmir with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warning of more flash floods and landslides. The Meteorological Centre Srinagar also issued a fresh weather advisory for Jammu and Kashmir, predicting a wet spell in several districts of both Kashmir and Jammu divisions. Picture: EPA/FAROOQ KHAN Pigeons that are fed by Pierre de Wet outside Lincoln Centre in Blairgorie, north of Johannesburg, 17 August 2025. He has been feeding them for the past 20 years. Picture: Nigel Sibanda/The Citizen Keshav Maharaj of South Africa reacts with team mates during the Australia v South Africa – ODI Series: Game 1 at Cazaly's Stadium on August 19, 2025 in Cairns, Australia. (Photo by) People watch as the Kiruna Church landmark is being moved on a specially designed trolley with 224 wheels at a speed of half a kilometer per hour in Kiruna, northern Sweden, 19 August 2025. The 40-meter-wide, 672,000-kilo wooden church has been placed on a wheeled trailer for its five-kilometre relocation to Kiruna's new town center on 19 and 20 August, due to the expansion of the iron ore mine. Picture: EPA/Fredrik Sandberg A tree near the grave of US musician Jim Morrison covered with chewing gum left by fans at Pere-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France, 18 August 2025. Pere-Lachaise is the largest cemetery in Paris, with around 70,000 graves and many famous people buried there. It receives more than three and a half million visitors each year, making it the most visited cemetery in the world. Picture: EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON MORE: 24 hours in pictures, 18 August 2025
The South African
3 hours ago
- The South African
Taxi industry under siege by criminals says Santaco
The president of the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco), Motlhabane Tsebe, has said the taxi industry is under siege from criminal elements. Tsebe addressed the media in Johannesburg on Tuesday following the killing of a 27-year-old e-hailing driver at Maponya Mall last week. Four unknown men allegedly killed the driver, torched his car, and injured two other people in the attack. Although many blamed the taxi industry for the violence, Tsebe insisted that criminals were behind the killing. 'We must admit this criminality that is committed in our name. We humbly ask for prayers in the community as we are facing infiltration by criminals as we are cleaning up the industry,' he said. Tsebe stressed that Santaco has a zero-tolerance approach to violence. 'Santaco will immediately expel any operator, driver, or member involved in the attack or any act of violence. This is not just a talk shop; it is a promise. Enough is enough,' he said. He urged communities to report law-breaking taxi operators to the police. 'Violence is a crime and crime has no place in the taxi industry and the South African community,' Tsebe said. Tsebe revealed that Santaco would assist with funeral arrangements for the slain driver. 'I sent my team to speak to the family, to ask them if they would give us that right to take the body from Gauteng to KZN and also to bury the body,' he said. He confirmed that the industry would cover the undertaker's costs. Santaco is planning a day of prayer at Maponya Mall after the funeral. 'We also spoke to Soweto ministries because we need divine intervention in this regard. We are sending a team to the hospital to check on those still recovering, and then after that, we will do a prayer day at Maponya Mall,' Tsebe said. Tsebe noted that the outrage directed at the taxi industry comes as Santaco prepares to test a cashless system for paying taxi fares. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
