The wife of Gabon’s ousted president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, has been charged with “money laundering” and other offenses, the public prosecutor said Friday, a month after her husband was toppled in a coup.
The wife of Gabon’s former president, Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin, who is from both France and Gabon, along with one of their sons, have been accused by the leader of the coup of controlling things in the country with a lot of oil.
Their oldest son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, has already been accused of doing bad things like taking money that’s supposed to be for the public, along with some former government members and two ex-ministers.
Sylvia Bongo was officially accused by a judge on Thursday and told to stay in her house, as announced on TV. She’s also facing other charges, like hiding things and making fake documents.
Sylvia Bongo has been stuck in her house in Libreville, the capital, ever since the coup on August 30. This put an end to the Bongo family’s 55 years of ruling the country.
She’s been kept away from her husband, and her French lawyers made a complaint in Paris. They say it seems like she’s being held against her will.
“One rule should apply to everyone, no matter who they are,” said one of her lawyers, Francois Zimeray, to AFP on Friday.
“What should we think of a justice system that keeps people alone in a room for weeks before accusing them, without letting them have a proper defense?”
Corruption
Bongo, aged 64, had been in charge of the country in Central Africa since 2009. However, right after he was declared the winner in a presidential election, military leaders removed him from power.
The opposition and the leaders of the military coup said the election was dishonest and called Bongo’s government out for being very corrupt and not managing things well.
Lots of folks viewed it as a step towards freedom rather than just a military takeover.
Ali Bongo became the leader in 2009 after his father, Omar, passed away after almost 42 years in charge.
Recently, his son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, was formally accused and put in temporary jail for suspected corrupt actions.
In total, ten individuals were formally accused of various things like problems with the electoral process, making fake documents, using official symbols improperly, as well as corruption, taking public money for personal use, and hiding money, as announced by Roponat during a press meeting.
Seven people, including Noureddin Bongo, have been taken into custody. This includes two ex-ministers, one for oil matters and the other for public works.
Ali Bongo, who was initially confined to his home for a few days after the coup, is now allowed to move around and even leave the country, as stated by Gabon’s new military leader, General Brice Oligui Nguema, a week after the coup.
In October 2018, Bongo had a stroke that kept him out of action for 10 months.
In a speech to the Republican Guard, General Oligui accused the former “First Lady” and Noureddin of abusing the president’s authority. He claimed that since Bongo’s stroke, they had been forging the president’s signature and giving orders in his place.
Promises
The new leader wasted no time in making it clear that corruption wouldn’t be allowed anymore.
Right after taking control, he called around 200 Gabonese business leaders for a meeting, which was shown on TV. He gave them a serious warning about not charging too much for their services and told them to focus on helping the country grow. He also pledged to make sure any extra money taken would be returned to the government.
Oligui has promised to eventually return the country to civilian rule through elections, but there’s no exact timeline set yet. Over the past month, he’s been having a lot of talks and discussions with various groups of people in the country.
He’s established organizations to oversee the country until a new set of rules, which promise to be more respectful of people’s rights, is voted on in a referendum. After that, there will be fair and open elections.
The temporary leader, Raymond Ndong Sima, used to be a strong opponent of Bongo. His team includes politicians and community members who also opposed Bongo, along with some who used to work for the old government.
Oligui has made a promise to make life better for the less fortunate, but there are many big problems in the country, like political, economic, and social issues.
Even though this nation is the third wealthiest in Africa based on the average income of its people, one out of every three individuals here lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.
SOURCE:FRANCE24