The transitional president of Gabon, General Brice Oligui Nguema, will meet his counterpart from neighboring Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, on Sunday, Télesphore Obame Ngomo, special advisor to the Gabonese head of state, announced to AFP on Thursday.
“The president of the transition will travel on Sunday for a visit to Oyo (in central Congo, editor’s note) as part of a private meeting” with his counterpart Mr. Sassou Nguesso, declared Mr. Ngomo, adding that “to other trips are planned” soon in the sub-region, without further details.
Tuesday, during a visit by the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic of Gabon (SGPR), Guy Rossatanga-Rignault, to N’Djamena, the capital of Chad , “the principle of a visit by Mr. Oligui was discussed , but no date has been set ,” Chadian Foreign Minister Mahamat Saleh Annadif told AFP.
Relations between the Congo of Denis Sassou Nguesso , who has almost 40 years in power, and the Gabon of Ali Bongo Ondimba , were notoriously tense.
This is Mr. Oligui’s second trip abroad since the military overthrew Ali Bongo, who had been in power for 14 years. His father, Omar Bongo Ondimba , who died in 2009, had ruled the country with an iron fist for more than 40 years.
On September 19, Mr. Oligui, former commander of the Republican Guard (GR), made his first trip as president of the transition to Equatorial Guinea , another country bordering Gabon in the northwest, where he notably met the Head of State Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo . The latter, 81 years old, holds the record for political longevity with 44 years in power.
Gabon was suspended from the African Union (AU) on August 31, the day after the military takeover, and from the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) on September 4, two organizations including Congo is part of it.
Sunday’s meeting should make it possible to promote “exchanges on bilateral collaboration, and the situation affecting Gabon” , and “because there is a need for advocacy in the context of what happened at the CEEAC” to “bring people back to better feelings” , detailed Mr. Ngomo.
The ECCAS had notably ordered the “immediate transfer” of its headquarters from Libreville, the capital of Gabon, to Malabo, in Equatorial Guinea.
On September 5, Mr. Oligui received the President of the Central African Republic, Faustin Archange Touadéra , designated by the ECCAS “facilitator of the political process” in Gabon.
