Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Griffin Ondo Nzuey
Published on 2024-02-19 08:56:42
Considering having been betrayed and humiliated by his former “comrades”, including within the National Assembly where his parliamentary immunity had been quickly lifted before being imprisoned nearly 4 years earlier, will the former Minister of Transport also leave the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG)? His departure would be only logical, according to some.
At the head of a brand new associative platform called “Horizon”, Justin Ndoundangoye is no longer the number 2 of Ajev, the all-powerful Association of emergent volunteers that he helped to create and which was a stepping stone for many to reach certain more or less high positions. “I am no longer a part of Ajev for a simple reason: the context in which we created it is no longer present today. We have become aware of the need to work towards the construction of Gabon. It is no longer about following a man, but about continuing the development of the country,” he explained in a recent interview with our colleagues at Renaissance Television.
After spending nearly four years in the central prison of Libreville before being granted provisional release in October 2023, the former deputy of the 2nd arrondissement of Franceville in the province of Haut-Ogooué is also considering his possible resignation from the PDG. “For now, I am part of the PDG. I have not resigned yet,” he said, admitting that he had not yet contacted the interim authorities of Ali Bongo’s party. While continuing to reflect on the future of this political party, “Okulu the solution” says he is observing how things are going… “depending on the direction.”
Betrayed and humiliated by his “comrades”
However, the events experienced since his indictment could have motivated him to make the decision to leave the party, either when he was in prison or after his release. Especially since these events clearly showed him that he did not have the support of his “comrades”, including his former colleagues in the National Assembly who did not hesitate to lift his parliamentary immunity on December 18, 2019. At the Léon Mba palace, he had also been urged by his PDG companions to confess to the acts that were being reproached, even though he firmly contested them. Months earlier, as Prime Minister, Julien Nkoghe Bekale publicly accused him of being a thief.
In 2020, Justin Ndoundangoye was sentenced to 5 years in prison for embezzlement of public funds, concussion, complicity in concussion, and association of wrongdoers. The verdict was accompanied by an injunction to repay 145 million XAF to the Gabonese state and to pay 100 million XAF in damages. The concerned party assures that this whole affair was fabricated and hopes to be cleared as soon as possible.
Read the original article(French) on Gabon Review
