The small Gabon nation has been voting in its first executive election on Saturday since the 2023 military coup ended the 50-year dynasty rule of Bongo politicians.
Brice Clotaite Oligui Nguema, a mobile president who has turned coup leader, is a leading candidate among four competitors, and is widely expected to win the election despite controversial reforms that experts have coordinated to qualify for the vote.
Located in West Central Africa along the Atlantic coast, Gabon is rich in crude oil-like extracts. The country, with a population of 2.2 million, is also part of the important Congo Basin, with millions of acres of rainforests offering a rich variety of plants and animal species.
However, these natural resources have not been translated into a meaningful distribution of wealth as one family and a small political elite have ruled the country for the past 50 years. Opposition is weak, experts say. The media has very little teeth. And Gaboné has a distrust of politicians.
Located at the equator, Gabon’s linga franca is French, with local languages including tusks, mbre and several others. Libreville, a refreshing coastal capital, is the largest city, followed by the port town of Portgentir.
Here’s what you need to know about voting:
When will you vote? And how did Gabon arrive here?
Presidential votes will be held in nine states of the country on Saturday, April 12th from 7:30am to 6:00pm local time (06:30-17:00 GMT). The campaign will begin on March 29th and end on April 11th. Voting is mandatory for adults. The election took place a few months before the August 2025 deadline. The military has ended the coup (2009-2023) that ended the rules of former President Ali Bongo Ondimba, starting August 30, 2023. The coup, part of a wave of military takeovers on the continent, took place on the same day that the results of the presidential election were announced. Ondimba was declared the winner in 60% of the third term’s vote. The opposition, led by Albert Ondo Ossa, has challenged the election. Ondimba took over after his father (1967-2009), President Omar Bongo, died. Among them, the father-son duo ruled Gabon for 56 years. No legislative elections have been announced. Currently, the two House members are assigned representatives appointed by the military government.
Who is running?
All male four candidates have been approved by the electoral college.
Everything is run independently. That’s because candidates want to distance themselves from the former governing Gabonese Democrats (PDG), Douglas Yates, a professor at the American Graduate School in Paris, told Al Jazeera. The PDG has been in power with almost opposition since 1967, representing the only truly established party.
Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema (50): Nguema, head of the royal security guard, led a coup on August 30, 2023, overthrowing his cousin, former President Ali Bongo.
The military general previously worked as an aide to Omar Bongo before being listed overseas at the Embassies in Morocco and Senegal. He then returned to lead the elite royal guards defending the president.
After the coup, NGUEMA has pledged to hand it over to the private government within two years. He is praised for his rapid movement in the transition, in contrast to his counterparts in military governments in West African countries in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Guinea. He was also able to maintain ties with France, the former colonial leader of Gabon, but others actively severed ties with France.
Following the November referendum, a new constitution was passed in favor of strict two-term restrictions.
Nguema has committed to “lifting and converting” Gabon economically. He cleaned up his military image since wearing a souve suit and a t-shirt at a coup, a gathering of his packed colorful campaigns. One saw him being seen on stage on Moonwalk to greet him with loud applause from his supporters.
Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze (57): Bilie-by-nze poses Nguema’s biggest challenge, as it is widely regarded as equipped with decades of elections in countries where opposition has historically weakened.
Career politicians come from a low-income background, unlike many of his more elite counterparts. In 2015 he joined politics and served in several ministerial positions under Alibongo. He was prime minister until the 2023 coup.
Supported together for Gabon’s political group, Bilie-nze chose a modest door-to-door campaign led by the election. He tried to underestimate his role in the previous government – he criticized the former ruling PDG party, which was part of the previous ruling PDG party. The “another Gabon” promise focuses on city renewals, better health insurance and overall economic growth.
But experts say it’s difficult for many voters to trust him.
“In spite of his efforts to distance himself from the past, everyone knows that he is Ali Bongo’s last prime minister and therefore has been discolored,” Yates said.
Stephane Germain Iloko Boussengui: The doctor, commonly known as Iloko, was once a spokesman for the former ruling PDG party before the fall of the coup. He formed together with By-nze for the Gabon Group, but the two men clashed, leading to an exit in Iroko in March.
His meeting is colorful. At one campaign event in Ribbleville, Iroko danced with supporters wearing traditional rappers, photos and t-shirts.
Despite his political past, Iroko claimed in an interview with local publication L’Union that he was a “candidate for those who were oppressed for 56 years.”
He claimed that he tried to get things right in past governments, but was often shut down. Now he is committed to providing jobs and building roads and schools, especially in rural areas. He also wants to reduce government spending and increase teacher welfare. As a solid critic of the military government, Iroco has called for the establishment of an Independent Election Commission, saying the new constitution, which was established in November, gives the president too much power.
Joseph Lapensee Essingone (53): Technocrat, Essingone, is the country’s tax director. Educated in Gabon and France, he presented himself as a new face in politics.
Essingone says it wants to “burn” the current political system and signal the arrival of economic reforms. He has committed to putting an end to inadequate management of resources and bad governance if elected.
Is the Bongo administration continuing?
Nguema is ready to win the election, analysts agree.
His supporters praised him for taking steps towards civilian control, including:
Last April he called for a month of “comprehensive national dialogue” that includes civil society and members of the diaspora as one of the measures to return to civilian control. He oversees the writing of a new constitution that confirms strict two-term restrictions. Before the election, NGUEMA has been promoting the infrastructure projects he has embarked on since becoming a leader. Construction of more than 1,400 kilometers of new roads (870 miles) and distribution of over 400 taxis to create jobs.
However, his critics quickly point out that Nguema has dominated Gabon for decades and remains part of the same facility, which is reportedly gained wealth from those relationships.
They argue that the national dialogue mainly included military representatives. His transitional cabinet also includes several Bongo-era officials, critics further pointed out, with Ali Bongo’s PDG supporting his candidacy. Gabonne’s rules do not allow a transitional president to take office, but the new constitution passed in November allowed it. Critics say that although they banned several established opposition leaders due to age requirements, it was designed to run by the nguema. The Constitution also moved election coordination to the Ministry of Home Affairs in place of the Independent Commission.
“As we have seen in other military attacks in Africa in recent years, these transitions are accompanied by reduced civil liberties, political participation and transparency,” Hanwahira, an analyst at the US-based Centre for African Strategic Studies, told Al Jazeera.
“Critics of Gabon’s military regime were targets of intimidation, so what we are seeing is more like the continuation of existing, unequal processes than progress,” she added.
Still, the fact that NGUEMA has advanced his election promises and the development of the infrastructure that kickstarted is a progression, said Yates of the American Graduate School in Paris. The alternative was that Gabon was still stuck, Yates said.
“His most obvious quality is that unlike the youths who were groomed to inherit the property of the Bongo dynasty, Olig Nuguema actually lives in Gabon,” Yates said.
He was referring to Ali Bongo’s London-based eldest son, 33-year-old Nooredin Bongo. He was currently under house arrest in Gabon on charges of treason and fraud, and was mentioning it along with his mother and French national Sylvia Bongo. Nguema’s new constitution prohibits people of dual nationalities from running for presidency. Ali Bongo himself was released from detention shortly after the coup and remains in the capital.
Gabon’s democracy may be young, but it’s on the way, Yates added.
“As long as it’s “true democracy,” I prefer to measure that concept on an ordinal scale from “more” to “less” democracy. Here the measurements have improved,” he said.
what else?
The results will be announced within two weeks of voting. Analysts say the possibility of a “free and fair” election at Gabon is dimly lit due to the history of voting. There are also concerns about violence. In 2016, opposition protests erupted after Alibongo announced the winner. In 2023, no violence occurred, but a coup occurred as tensions began to rise across the country.
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