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.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
MIGRATION: The Supreme Court justices said they were not deciding whether Trump could legally use the Alien Enemies Act to deport undocumented migrants US President Donald Trump on Friday lashed out at the US Supreme Court after it blocked his bid to resume deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members, saying the justices are “not allowing me to do what I was elected to do.” Trump’s berating of the high court, in a post on Truth Social, came after it dealt another setback to his attempt to swiftly expel alleged Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members using an obscure wartime law, the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA). Trump has been at loggerheads with the judiciary ever since he returned to the White House, venting
RSS