Will a moonwalking general become Gabon's next president?

Al Jazeera

12-04-2025

The small African nation of Gabon is voting on Saturday in its first executive elections since a military coup in 2023 ended the 50-year dynastic rule of the Bongo political family.
Brice Clotaite Oligui Nguema, coup leader-turned-transition president, is the main candidate among four competitors and is widely expected to win the elections, despite controversial reforms he has put into place that experts say were tailored to make him eligible for the vote.
Located in West-central Africa, on the Atlantic coast, Gabon is rich in extractives like crude oil. The country, with a population of 2.2 million, is also part of the vital Congo Basin and boasts millions of acres of rainforest replete with varieties of plant and animal species.
However, those natural resources have not translated into any meaningful distribution of wealth, as one family and a small political elite have ruled the country for the past five decades. The opposition is weak, experts say; the press is largely toothless; and Gabonese are distrustful of politicians.
Located right on the equator, Gabon's lingua franca is French, and local languages include Fang, Mbere and several others. Libreville, the breezy coastal capital, is the largest city, followed by the port town of Port-Gentil.
Here's what to know about the vote:
Four candidates, all male, have been approved by the electoral college.
All are running independently. That's because the candidates want to distance themselves from the former governing Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), Douglas Yates, a professor at the American Graduate School in Paris, told Al Jazeera. The PDG has been in power since 1967 with little opposition and represents the only truly established party.
Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema (50): As head of the Royal Guard, Nguema led the coup that overthrew former President Ali Bongo, who is also his cousin, on August 30, 2023.
The military general previously served as aide-de-camp to Omar Bongo before he was posted overseas to the embassies in Morocco and Senegal. He thereafter returned to lead the elite Royal Guard that protects the president, a post he kept until seizing power.
Following the coup, Nguema promised to hand over to a civilian government within two years. He has been praised for moving rapidly towards that transition as opposed to military government counterparts in the West African countries of Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Guinea. He's also managed to maintain ties with Gabon's former colonial leader, France, while the others have actively cut ties with France.
A new constitution affirming strict two-term limits was passed following a November referendum.
Nguema is promising to 'lift' and transform Gabon economically. He has cleaned up his military image since the coup, sporting suave suits and T-shirts in his packed, colourful campaign rallies. In one, he was seen moonwalking on stage to loud applause from his supporters.
Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze (57): In a country where the opposition has historically been weak due to decades of elections widely viewed as rigged, Bilie-By-Nze poses the biggest challenge to Nguema.
The career politician, unlike many of his more elite counterparts, comes from a low-income background. In 2015, he entered politics and went on to serve in several ministerial positions under Ali Bongo. He was prime minister until the 2023 coup.
Backed by his Together for Gabon political group, Bilie-By-Nze has chosen a low-key door-to-door campaign in the lead-up to the election. He has tried to underplay his role in the previous government – even criticising the former ruling PDG party, which he was a part of until 2023. His promises of 'another Gabon' include a focus on urban renewal, better health insurance and overall economic growth.
However, experts say it is tough for many voters to trust him.
'Despite his efforts to distance himself from his past, everybody knows that he was the last prime minister of Ali Bongo, and therefore is tarnished,' Yates said.
Stephane Germain Iloko Boussengui: The medical doctor, popularly known as Iloko, was once a spokesperson for the former ruling PDG party before its downfall in the coup. He formed the Together for Gabon group with By-Nze, but the two men clashed, leading to Iloko's exit in March.
His rallies are colourful: In one campaign event in Libreville, Iloko wore traditional wrappers and danced with his supporters, who sported T-shirts with his photos on them.
Despite his political past, Iloko claimed to be a 'candidate for the people oppressed for 56 years' in an interview with local publication L'Union.
He claimed he tried to right things in the past government but was often shut down. Now, he is promising to provide jobs and build roads and schools, particularly in rural areas. He also wants to reduce government spending and increase teachers' welfare. As a staunch critic of the military government, Iloko has called for the establishment of an independent electoral commission, saying the new constitution established in November grants the president too much power.
Joseph Lapensee Essingone (53): A technocrat, Essingone is a director at the country's Directorate of Taxes. Educated in Gabon and France, he has presented himself as a new face in politics with no ties to the tainted past administrations.
Essingone says he wants to 'rupture' the current political system and usher in economic reforms. He has promised an end to the mismanagement of resources and bad governance if elected.
Nguema is poised to win the elections, analysts agree.
His supporters have praised him for taking steps towards civilian rule, including:
However, his critics are quick to point out that Nguema remains part of the same establishment that has ruled Gabon for decades and reportedly also reaped wealth from those ties.
'As we've seen with other military seizures of power in Africa in recent years, these transitions are accompanied by declining levels of civil liberties, political participation and transparency,' analyst Hany Wahila of the United States-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies told Al Jazeera.
'Those who've criticised the military regime in Gabon have been the target of intimidation. What we're seeing, therefore, resembles more a continuation of the existing unequal process rather than progress,' she added.
Still, the fact that Nguema has moved forward on his election promises and kickstarted infrastructure development is progress, Yates of the American Graduate School in Paris said. The alternative, Yates said, would have kept Gabon stuck.
'His most evident quality is that, unlike the young man who was being groomed to inherit the Bongo dynastic fortune, Oligui Nguema actually lives in Gabon,' Yates said.
He was referring to Ali Bongo's London-based first son, 33-year-old Noureddin Bongo, who is currently under house arrest in Gabon on charges of treason and fraud, along with his mother and French national, Sylvia Bongo. Nguema's new constitution has barred people of dual nationality from running for the presidency, a move many believe is aimed at the Bongo heir. Ali Bongo himself was released from detention shortly after the coup and remains in the capital.
Gabon's democracy may yet be young, but it is on its way, Yates added.
'As far as being a 'true democracy', I prefer to measure that concept on an ordinal scale from 'more' to 'less' democracy. Here, the measurement has improved,' he said.