Gabon: Ali Bongo’s main rival in the 2023 presidential election is the subject of a judicial investigation
With 72 hours to go before the elections in Gabon, the “Alternance 2023” opposition coalition is at the centre of a judicial investigation. A recording of a conversation between its presidential candidate, Albert Ondo Ossa, and another of its illustrious members, Barro Chambrier, refers to a plan for an uprising in the aftermath of the elections.
It all started with the broadcast on 21 August of a recording of a conversation between the two men in the media and on social networks.
«We have already studied with other people to put the strategy in place and Ali (President of the Republic of Gabon, editor’s note) knows that in the event of…, we can have alliances in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and even Congo because there are borders. This is something that will require people to mobilise», we hear in this audio.
«Through Macron (President of the Republic of France, editor’s note), I can get support from Ouattara (President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, editor’s note), who is following the loan process», the same voice continues.
The media broadcasting the audio claims that it is a conversation between presidential candidate Albert Ondo Ossa and politician Alexandre Barro Chambrier, both members of the opposition platform Alternance 2023, created in the wake of the general elections of 26 August 2023.
This exchange took place on the eve of the designation of Ondo Ossa as Alternance 2023’s candidate for the presidential election.
It was a journalist who left his camera on before a press conference held on 17 August 2023.
Before the meeting got underway, the organisations asked the journalists to leave, leaving Albert Ondo Ossa and Alexandre Barro Chambrier to work behind closed doors, at which point the famous recording was made.
The Alternance 2023 platform categorically denies the veracity and authenticity of this conversation and asserts that it never took place and that it is the infamous use of artificial intelligence that the government has been accustomed to for nearly five years.
The public prosecutor at the Libreville court of first instance has taken up the case and opened an investigation. Whether Albert Ondo Ossa and Barro Chambrier will be found guilty or cleared, only time will tell.
Iann Obiang
