Gabon’s transitional Prime Minister, Raymond Ndong Sima, unveiled a diverse government over the weekend, bringing together former adversaries, ex-ministers from the ousted President Ali Bongo’s administration, military officials, and civil society representatives. However, conspicuously absent are prominent figures from the former opposition in the presidential election.
Mr. Ndong Sima took the helm of the transitional government last Thursday, following his appointment by General Brice Oligui Nguema, who orchestrated the coup d’état against Ali Bongo Ondimba on August 30. This coup took place shortly after Bongo’s contentious re-election in a disputed election.
Gabon’s Prime Minister Unveils his Government in a televised speech .
Courtesy: Africa News
General Oligui was inaugurated as the President of the transitional period earlier this week, without specifying its duration, but with a commitment to eventually “return power to civilians” through elections.
The announcement of the government’s composition, consisting of 26 members, comes two days after Ndong Sima’s appointment. The 68-year-old, who previously served as Prime Minister under President Bongo from 2012 to 2014, distanced himself from the main opposition platform, Alternance 2023, which united various opposition leaders in support of a common presidential candidate, Albert Ondo Ossa.
Significantly, Ondo Ossa and other prominent figures from the coalition, such as Alexandre Barro Chambrier of the Rassemblement pour la patrie et la modernité (RPM) or Paulette Missambo of the Union nationale (UN), are not part of the government.
A former member of Missambo’s party, Paul-Marie Gondjout, who left in October 2022 due to internal disputes, has been appointed as the Minister of Justice. Under the transitional charter, members of this temporary government are barred from participating in the upcoming presidential election, although there are no such restrictions on Mr. Oligui’s candidacy.
The government also includes civil society representatives, such as Mays Mouissi, who has been designated as the Minister of the Economy. Mouissi, an economic analyst, authored a widely circulated report during the campaign titled “105 Promises, 13 Achievements: An Assessment of Ali Bongo’s Second Seven-Year Term.”
Three ministers from Ali Bongo’s previous government have retained their positions. Camélia Ntoutoume-Leclercq continues as the Minister of National Education, Hermann Immongault, formerly the Minister of Foreign Affairs, now serves as the Minister Delegate for the Interior, and Raphaël Ngazouzé, who previously oversaw vocational training, has assumed responsibility for the Civil Service portfolio.