•Brice Oligui Nguema
Gabon’s President-elect Brice Oligui Nguema who led a coup ending decades of Bongo family rule and swept polls last month with nearly 95 percent of the vote will be sworn in today.
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, reports AFP.
Several African heads of state are expected to attend the inauguration in a 40,000-capacity stadium, north of the capital, Libreville.
They include Gambia’s Adama Barrow, Senegal’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Djibouti’s Ismail Omar Guelleh and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo from Equatorial Guinea.
According to local and international media, Democratic Republic of Congo’s president, Felix Tshisekedi, will also be present, along with his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, whose attendance was confirmed by Kigali’s foreign ministry.
Kigali and Kinshasa are currently in talks to end fighting in eastern DRC.
Tickets were free to attend the investiture at the Angondje stadium, built to honour friendship between Gabon and China, and it will be the first time the country holds a swearing-in ceremony in front of such a large audience.
– Challenges ahead –
The event is slated to have artistic performances and a military parade, according to state media, which will be followed by a “victory concert” on the Libreville waterfront in the evening.
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 interior ministry said in a statement.
It called on residents near the stadium to “take part in cleaning and beautifying” the area.
Oligui, 50, 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 ageing electricity network, which suffers frequent power cuts, youth unemployment that hovers at 40 per cent, poor or lacking roads and a ballooning public debt, forecast to hit 80 per cent 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.
