Gabon’s president-elect Brice Oligui Nguema, 50, who led a coup ending decades of Bongo family rule and swept polls last month with nearly 95 percent of the vote, was to be sworn in yesterday.
The general and former junta leader, who toppled Ali Bongo in August 2023, ending 55 years of dynastic rule by the Bongo family, officially takes the presidential reins after leading a 19-month transition government.
Several African heads of state were expected to attend the inauguration, including Gambian President Adama Barrow, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh, Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
Photo: AP
Kigali and Kinshasa are currently in talks to end fighting in eastern DR Congo. Tickets were free to attend the investiture at the Angondje stadium, built to honor friendship between Gabon and China, and it would be the first time the country holds a swearing-in ceremony in front of such a large audience.
The event was to have artistic performances, a military parade and a “victory concert” on the Libreville waterfront in the evening, state media had said. In the lead-up, hundreds of workers have been painstakingly cleaning and repainting areas around the main roads leading to the stadium.
Authorities and official media have called for people to be public-spirited in view of the influx of foreign guests.
“All citizens of Greater Libreville are asked to extend a warm welcome to these distinguished guests,” the Gabonese Ministry of Interior said in a statement.
It also called on residents near the stadium to “take part in cleaning and beautifying” the area.
Oligui faces serious challenges in leading the oil-rich country, which needs to revamp crucial infrastructure and diversify its economy, but is heavily indebted.
Among the main concerns are an aging electricity network which has frequent power cuts, youth unemployment that hovers at 40 percent, poor or lacking roads and a ballooning public debt, which is forecast to hit 80 percent of GDP this year.
During the transition, Oligui portrayed himself as a “builder,” launching numerous construction projects while vowing to “crack down” on corruption to get the country back on track.
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