GABON: Former President Ali Bongo’s Wife Jailed

The former president of Gabon Ali Bongo was elected after the death of his father Omar in 2009 after nearly 42 years in power. Bongo, ruled the central African country from 2009 until August when he was overthrown by military leaders moments after being declared the winner in a presidential election which many welcomed as an act of liberation from Bongo dynasty rule rather than a military coup. AFP reported that “The military accuses the former head of state and his entourage of falsifying the election results and has openly alleged that his wife has been manipulating him since he suffered a serious stroke in 2018”.

The wife of Gabon’s overthrown president Ali Bongo Ondim, Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin who has been under house arrest since the coup in Gabon in late August, has been jailed. Sylvia Bongo and her son, Nourredin Bongo Valentin are accused of manipulating the former president, who has been suffering from a serious stroke since 2018.

The former president’s wife was on September 28 charged with money laundering, forgery, and falsification of records. Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin’s lawyer Francois Zimeray, on Thursday to AFP that Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin, suspected of embezzling public funds, was jailed late on Wednesday. He said: We condemned this illegal procedure,” lawyer Zimeray added. “There is a difference between justice and arbitrary actions, between the law and revenge.”