Gabon: Oligui Nguema accused of “whitening” the PDG executives

Already unconvinced by the numerous promises made by the president of the Transition since he came to power, Anges Kevin Nzigou views with disdain the positions granted in recent months to supporters of the deposed regime in August 2023. A lawyer and political leader, he accuses Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema of whitewashing the officials of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) whom he holds responsible for the state of decay in the country.

If he believes that thanks to the coup d’état of August 30, 2023, the Gabonese army, led by the head of the Republican Guard, General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, “cleared” the country of Ali Bongo and his family members who, for him, symbolized the “blemishes” of the former regime, Anges Kevin Nzigou asserts in a recent interview with AFP that the liberation awaited by the Gabonese is still far off. Six months after the coup, the “Pédégiste system that kept this regime afloat” is still firmly in place, claims the lawyer and politician who disapproves of the positions granted by the general-president to the officials of the former ruling party.

“Before, we whitewashed public money, today we whitewash PDG executives”, concludes the executive secretary of the Party for Change (PLC) who doubts that those called to the public administration of the Transition truly meet the expectations of the population. For him, having served for several years in “a corrupt system” and having proved “incapable of living up to the Republic”, neither the “courtiers of Ali [Bongo] who cling to power” nor “the courtiers of Omar Bongo, former PDG members who had joined the opposition under Ali” are capable of meeting the aspirations of the Gabonese people.

Populism and Authoritarianism

In addition to his questionable appointments, Anges Kevin Nzigou is very critical of the numerous announcements made by Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema since coming to power. “All the promises made quickly and sometimes lightly: the improvement of schools, roads, hospitals, etc., must be achievable. And right now, it’s not possible in the short term given the astronomical sums misappropriated under Bongo which have burdened public finances for a long time”, he says, believing that “we are not making serious decisions”. For him, the new strongman of Gabon “is engaging in populism”.

However, according to Anges Kevin Nzigou, “authoritarianism is also the flip side of populism if one cannot fulfill their promises”. And in terms of authoritarianism, the current government has already shown signs of it: the threats of imprisonment made by the head of the Committee for Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), the unexplained maintenance of the curfew, but above all the episode related to the humiliation suffered by the union leaders of the Gabonese Energy and Water Company (SEEG).

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