Gabon: Is President Brice Oligui Nguema looking for legitimacy?

After coming to power in a coup d’état and being perceived as another French lackey at the head of Gabon, is the President Brice Oligui Nguema, in search of legitimacy among the Gabonese people and above all among those involved in Gabonese politics?

President Brice Oligui Nguema current, President of Gabon visited the home of Albert Ondo Ossa, the opposition’s sole candidate in the 26 August presidential election against Ali Bongo.

At the swearing-in ceremony, the President of the transition presented the main lines of his action, including the return of power to civilians.

Is his meeting with the opposition candidate part of this context? Or is he seeking to reassure the latter, who believes that the coup d’état was just «a palace revolution»?

We also learn that deposed President Ali Bongo, who has been under house arrest since the putsch, is now free to move about and can travel abroad for medical reasons.

For the time being, the Gabonese people want to believe in the country’s new strongman to establish the rule of law and pull the country out of the asphyxia into which the Bongo regime has plunged it, as the opposition believes.

«I was able to talk to the President of the transition in complete privacy and in a collegial manner. Let us dare to believe in a better and brighter future for our beloved country, Gabon», wrote Albert Ondo Ossa.

Fabrice NKOULOU