Omar Bongo: Pint-sized ‘dinosaur’ who stifled Gabon

By Juma Kwayera

True to form, the late Gabonese leader, like the legion of post-colonial African presidents and freebooters, came to power and relegated his citizenry to mere spectators of the plunder and rape of their natural resources. And like his contemporaries, Bongo’s legacy is abject poverty.

In the minds of his people, Bongo was president-for-life, having smothered and bribed the opposition into submission, leaving no serious challenge to his authority that made him Africa’s — nay, the world’s — longest serving president.

The departed leader, a midget just over four feet tall, was easily recognisable because of his heavy-soled footwear that was predictably more than half a foot high (what Kenyans call ‘platforms’) that gave him the extra inches he craved. Being short — almost a dwarf — planted in him a few oddities, which psychologists usually explain as the ‘compensation factor’ for his brief stature.

What he lacked in height, he made it up with a sense of exaggerated self-importance that had all the ingredients of a dictator. According to accounts, the physiological challenges were not accidental. The natives of Gabon were originally the Baka, a community of pygmies. When among them, he was the tallest! Bongo’s genetic composition, according to the US Department of State, is traced to the pygmies. However, his administration neglected them.

For his competence in French and exquisite manners, the BBC described Bongo last week as ‘France’s Minister for African Affairs’ because of his role in francophone Africa.

The Daily Telegraph described Bongo as "a diminutive, dapper figure, who conversed in flawless French and alternateduired, Bongo treated Gabon as a self-obsessed landlord treats his private estate. He considered everything inside its borders to be his personal property and elevated corruption to a method of government."

This description fits his contemporaries, who belong to a club of African strongmen who suppressed democracy but elevated autocracy to levels that earned them the moniker ‘the last dinosaurs of African politics’. They are derided as dinosaurs as they are perceived to be relics of the continent’s tyrannical past that is inconsistent with the changing dispensation.

Writing recently in The National, Chris Hennemeyer, who lived and worked in Africa for over 20 years, says Bongo was one of the last remaining ‘dinosaurs’ — as Francophone Africans call them: rulers who came to power decades ago, often through force of arms and who are largely unconcerned with the current emphasis on democracy. "There are only a few in this category, although none with quite the longevity of Bongo, and interestingly most are the leaders of large petroleum exporting states such as Angola, the Congo Republic and Libya."

Hennemeyer says with the dinosaurs still in power, Africa was not amenable to reforms. "Nonetheless, the dinosaurs are all ageing and their passing may finally sound the death knell for the long, painful era of African ‘big man’ politics," he writes.

"Fortunately, for every bizarre big man, there are also serious and well-intentioned people at the heads of African governments. In recent years, elected leaders in countries such as Benin, Ghana, Liberia, South Africa and Tanzania have proven that democratic governance is not at odds with social and economic progress," he adds.

Web of financial frauds

Bongo’s estimated personal fortune is put at close to $9 billion (Sh700 billion), roughly equivalent to Kenya’s annual national Budget. Various accounts place him among the world’s richest top ten leaders, although his riches accrued from pilferage of national resources that has transformed extreme poverty into an endemic phenomenon. This is despite the tiny West African nation being among leading oil producers in the continent.

The departed president’s massive wealth, most of which is stashed in multiple accounts in France, where in his twilight years he had run afoul of President Nicholas Sarkozy’s regime.

The US State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 says Bongo was one of the wealthiest heads of state in the world, with this attributed primarily from the benefits of oil revenue and alleged corruption.

"In 2005, an investigation by the United States Senate Indian Affairs Committee into fundraising irregularities by lobbyist Jack Abramoff revealed that Abramoff had offered to arrange a meeting between US President George W Bush and Bongo for the sum of $9 million (Sh72 million). Although such an exchange of funds remains unproven, Bush met with Bongo ten months later in the Oval Office," it says, providing a rare peek into the intricate web of financial frauds in which Africa’s longest serving president had been sucked into.

It adds that during his reign, the media was a public enemy number one. "Journalists are subject to the Communication Code, a law that specifies their rights and responsibilities. Libel can be either a criminal offence or a civil matter."

Laws enacted under him provided for rights of women in bizarre manner. For instance, says State Department, "By law couples must stipulate at the time of marriage whether they intend to adhere to a monogynous or a polygynous relationship.

It goes on to say, "For monogynous married couples, a common property law provides for the equal distribution of assets after divorce. In a polygynous marriage, husbands are obligated to give all wives the same level of financial support; however, he may marry additional wives without permission from his existing wives. Wives who leave polygynous husbands receive half of their existing support as a one-time payment. In inheritance cases, the husband’s family must issue a written authorisation before his widow can inherit property. Common law marriage, which is accepted socially and widely practiced, affords a woman no property rights."

The law also requires that a woman obtain her husband’s permission to travel abroad, although the requirement is not enforced consistently.

To his credit, primary education is compulsory and it is a criminal offence for a Gabonese parent to bar a child from attending school.