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Viewing cable 09LIBREVILLE460, GABON: ALI BONGO INSTALLATION, IMPLICATIONS FOR

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09LIBREVILLE460 2009-10-15 15:18 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Libreville
VZCZCXRO1039
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHLC #0460/01 2881518
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 151518Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1476
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LIBREVILLE 000460 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C FOR LISA KORTE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/15/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PREL GB EK
SUBJECT: GABON: ALI BONGO INSTALLATION, IMPLICATIONS FOR 
THE FUTURE 
 
Classified By: Charge Kathleen FitzGibbon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: Ali Bongo Ondimba, the son of former 
President Omar Bongo who ruled Gabon for 41 years, will be 
formally inaugurated as the country's fourth president on 
October 16.  The Constitutional Court's validation of the 
August 30 election results on October 11 and Bongo's 
installation ends weeks of political uncertainty.  Bongo 
faces formidable challenges as he takes office, including 
from within his own ruling party as some of his moves may 
challenge the "party barons," who had become accustomed to 
being paid off by his father.  Personal interests continue to 
divide the opposition and its failure to effectively 
challenge the election results have further damaged its 
ability to represent the public.  Serious economic and social 
problems are besetting the country, with the most pressing 
being a country-wide strike by public school teachers and 
other civil servants.  Probably the most glaring change for 
Gabon will be in a decline of its regional influence.  Bongo, 
the son, does not have the same long-established 
international and regional credentials as a peacemaker as his 
father, but Gabon's likely election to a U.N. Security 
Council seat will keep Libreville on the international radar. 
 Bongo publically claims to be a reformer, reportedly 
interested in changing the way things are done in Gabon, but 
he will have an uphill battle against a deeply entrenched and 
corrupt system, the one that produced him.  This cable 
examines the implication of Ali Bongo's presidency.  End 
Summary. 
 
------------------ 
For the Government 
------------------ 
 
2. (C) Bongo's claims to be a reformer will be put to the 
test as he names his new cabinet.  Embassy contacts say that 
he is looking to reduce the number of ministers and delegated 
ministers from 47 to a more reasonable 30.  If this were to 
occur, it will involve significant restructuring of the 
ministries to combine services.  Under his father, Omar 
Bongo, ministerial posts were plumb patronage and handed out 
to as a reward for loyalty.  Ali Bongo's goal of reducing the 
number of ministers in the government will meet with pushback 
and reluctance by a number of "barons" and those who will 
lose influence in the government.  Similarly, many civil 
servants, who have been out of work for months due to 
strikes, will demand to keep their jobs and wages even as 
their ministries are eliminated. 
 
----------- 
For the PDG 
----------- 
 
3. (C) Ali Bongo overcame resistance within the ruling party 
to climb into the Presidency.  Now, as the clear leader of 
the ruling Democratic Party of Gabon (PDG), he has a number 
of PDG "barons" to thank for their support and funding during 
his presidential bid.  Bongo's promises to be a reformer will 
be difficult to reconcile as he is forced to reward the old 
guard of the PDG for standing with him over other factions. 
His brother-in-law, Foreign Minister Paul Tongui, may be 
particularly difficult to handle.  He has done little as 
Foreign Minister and may want to be rewarded with a 
financially juicier post, such as a return to Finance 
Minister. 
 
------------------ 
For the Opposition 
------------------ 
 
4. (C) Bongo's installation means that the fragmented and 
increasingly marginalized opposition will have to come up 
with new strategies to compete with the ruling party and to 
have a role in governance.  The initial declaration of Ali 
Bongo's victory galvanized the opposition for a few days, but 
continuing animosity and rivalries between the two most 
important names, Pierre Mamboundou and Andre Mba Obame, make 
it even more difficult for Bongo to effectively incorporate 
opposition perspectives.  With Ali Bongo's investiture 
imminent, Embassy contacts say that Bongo has begun to reach 
out to Pierre Mamboundou in the hope of bringing him into the 
new government.  If this occurs, the opposition will lose 
much of its legitimacy with the people and force Mba Obame, 
widely viewed as a government collaborator, into the sole 
leadership role in the years of rebuilding that will come. 
The opposition's ability to create a popular base on which to 
build for the future has been severely circumscribed. 
 
--------- 
 
LIBREVILLE 00000460  002 OF 002 
 
 
For Gabon 
--------- 
 
5. (C) When Ali Bongo is sworn in as president, he faces a 
number of significant social challenges.  Most pressing is 
the current teachers' strike.  Despite the school year 
beginning on October 5 no classes in Gabonese public schools 
have been held.  Public school teachers are demanding the 
government address their concerns about insufficient pay and 
poor working conditions.  In the past, former President Omar 
Bongo directly intervened with the teachers to help negotiate 
a resolution, and as a result the Teachers' Union has refused 
to negotiate with the Ministry of Education.  The Gabonese 
public will look the teachers' strike as one of the first 
major tests of the Ali Bongo government.  Besides teachers, 
health care workers and large portions of the civil service 
have also threatened to go on strike in the coming months. 
 
6. (C) The Government of Gabon has serious financial issues 
to tackle under Ali Bongo.  Since the death of Omar Bongo 
there has been significant capital flight from the country. 
Embassy contacts say that the lavish funeral for Omar Bongo, 
the hurried presidential election, and the need to finance 
Ali Bongo's presidential bid have taxed the financial 
reserves of the country and the Bongo family.  Cash-strapped, 
the new president will find it difficult to negotiate 
effectively with the unions, which will expect a pay off to 
end the strikes. 
 
-------------- 
For the Region 
-------------- 
 
7. (C) At the time of his death Omar Bongo was seen as one of 
Africa's senior statesman and a stabilizing force in regional 
politics.  Ali Bongo does not have the gravitas or longevity 
of his father, which will greatly reduce Gabon's regional 
role until Ali Bongo can prove himself as a regional player. 
One area for improvement could involve neighboring Equatorial 
Guinea.  Under Omar Bongo,s regime, relations between the 
two countries were tense and marred by accusations of coup 
attempts against one another.  Gabon is worried that 
Equatorial Guinea, which now holds the largest reserves in 
the Bank of the Central African States (BEAC), will conspire 
to oust the current bank governor, a Gabonese who is 
embroiled in a financial scandal. An improved relationship 
between Equatorial Guinea and Gabon is likely one of Bongo,s 
early foreign relations goals. 
 
8. (C) Gabon is an uncontested candidate to assume a 
non-permanent member seat on the U.N. Security Council 
representing Africa.  Neither Ali Bongo nor the government 
have made any comments on their goals for their tenure on the 
security council, but it does provide a useful stage by which 
Bongo can improve his standing with other leaders on the 
continent. 
 
--------------------- 
For the United States 
--------------------- 
 
9. (C) Bongo's next steps are critical if he is to overcome 
doubts about his election following his father's death.  He 
has a delicate balancing act, given the country's potentially 
precarious economic and social predicaments.  His ability to 
negotiate and bring disparate actors on board will dictate 
the extent to which his government will respect human rights 
and the rule of law.  Stay tuned. 
FITZGIBBON