Gabon: Smell of opacity and favoritism

Anger and discontent are growing at the Léon Mba Palace, from which information continues to filter about the preferential treatment reserved for members of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), the former ruling party to which the President of this institution belongs.

The transitional deputies and employees of the institution have not hesitated to repeatedly sound the alarm in recent weeks about the unequal distribution of work, tasks, and responsibilities among the different forces (political parties, unions, and civil society) present at the National Transitional Assembly.

Injustice and resurgence of the PDG

For example, based on a comparative table with the upper chamber of the transitional parliament (Senate), authoritative sources indicate that out of the six (6) working committees: laws, social affairs, foreign affairs, environment, planning, and finances; only two (2) have not been allocated to members of the Gabonese Democratic Party.

Except for the foreign affairs and planning committees, respectively chaired by a member of the National Union and a member of the defense and security forces, all the others are, as if by some fortunate coincidence, led by the PDG.

The trend seems to be the same, that is, cronyism and favoritism in the distribution of “perks” and the cooptation of various officials assigned to different parliamentary missions; even high-ranking officials from the administration at the National Assembly, recruited mostly from PDG members, apparently with the blessing of the institution’s highest authority.

The opposite is true in the Senate. Here, only one committee – that of finances, budget, and the nation’s economic accounts – has been assigned to the National Union, which is close to the President of the Senate.

The leadership of the other committees falls to the RPM, the PLC, the Democrats, a personality close to the PDG, and a member of the defense and security forces. An balance that contrasts with the PDG’s hegemony in the lower house of parliament.

Undoubtedly, the wisdom of the “elders” sitting at the Omar Bongo Palace can still be a source of inspiration for the Speaker of the National Assembly.

Féeodora Madiba