Gabon delayed breathing as a coup for the presidency

Every day, 40-year-old Landra Obam-Mizzi manages a taxi in Gabon Libreville.

But it’s not just a taxi. This is a brilliant, brand new white car labeled “Taxi Gab+”.

For Mr. Obama-Mesui, this is a brilliant symbol of the promise of Gabon’s youth from the coup that translates General Bris Oiliguy Nguema, who has ruled since August 2023.

Out of 40% of young people who do not work, Oligui NGUEMA offered young people over 800 new vehicles through the purchase scheme.

Mr. Obame-Mezui ruled a taxi owned by someone else. He says thanks to the interim leader, he now has a better chance of becoming an entrepreneur.

“Until August 30 (2023), everything went wrong as I wanted, but today I have something stable, which I can set goals and go far,” he says, leaning on my new car.

It’s no secret to whom the taxi driver will vote on the Saturday presidential election – “I will vote for the Oligui NGUEMA builder,” the car slogan says.

“The president came with a new way to perform things – actions before speeches,” he says, predicting a “devastating victory” in the elections.

Just over 19 months after a bloodless coup that put an end to more than five decades of Bong family, Gabon’s people are going to go to the polls to select the new head of state.

There is no secret in the capital who rules the country.

In various shapes, sizes and designs, billboards and posters, the company’s favorite Oligui NGUEMA race cover the city.

They dominate the airport, markets and neighborhoods, leaving very little space for the opposition.

“This is only for the atmosphere,” says Schondon Okulatela, a potential voter who believes that there is more management than the company’s posters.

With a small company enthusiasm, a 30-year-old girl states that she will only vote from a sense of duty, because none of the eight candidates appears to be able to truly turn the country.

“We just see the uniformity of the previous regime,” says Ms Akulatela, adding that the presidential candidates are former allies of ex-president Ali Bong.

Aleon Claude Bili-nze, the main contender for the election, held the post of Prime Minister under the late President Omar Bong and his son Ali Bong.

Other candidates, such as Stefan Jermen Iloka and Allen Simlas Bungur, were also influential members of the former PDG ruling party.

But all the candidates seem to strive to retire from the old regime.

The Oligui NGUEMA’s perspective served as Bong’s father and son, but now emphasizes his role in the coup that supplant Ali Bong.

He is fighting corruption, money laundering and theft of the country’s transition to democracy – including the arrest of his wife ex -president and the eldest son and accusing them of illegally enriching themselves.

On the way of the company, he boasts roads, hospitals and schools under his stay, promising further projects when they are elected president.

Not everyone is convinced.

“The transition was something I loved from the beginning,” says Liberville resident Jacques Akumba.

“I appreciated what they were doing, but a few months later, I realized that not everything they promised during the transition was actually coming true.”

After the vote for the new Constitution for the referendum in November 2024, many believed that the election on Saturday would signal the official end of the Bong dynasty.

Oligui NGUEMA fans thought it would complete the work he started with his so -called “loving coup” a year earlier, having completed five decades of corruption scandals, violations of rights and alleged repression.

But political analysts such as Bergès Mietté say they doubt how true these changes claim that the political transition is really fair, “” When there is a political class update and management. “

“Looking at the current situation, there is virtually no renewal of the elite, because those in power were part of the previous regime, whether it would be Bango, Father or Bong Son,” he says.

For most Gabonez, this election is an opportunity to correct some mistakes they have suffered from the previous regime.

For the first time since 1967, the country will go to the polls without Bonggo and PDG on the ticket.

Critics say the new Constitution and the Electoral Code were designed to promote the Nguyame’s oliguy because they did not ban the former military officers from running, and they submitted age restrictions, which meant that the old opposition leaders could not challenge him.

But others rejected this statement by attributing any potential victory to the fact that Oligui NGUEMA has no fierce competition.

Additional UFUOMA Gift Reporting in Libreville