Gabon: 27 presidential hopefuls submit bids for August presidential elections

27 people have submitted their candidacies for 26 August presidential polls, Gabon’s Center of Elections (CGE) said Monday.
Michel Stéphane Bonda, President of CGE did not unveil names of candidates but indicated that Center until July 16 -deadline for candidacies-, received 27 bids and 20 of them have been validated. 7 are left to be vetted, Bonda added.
CGE will publish names of the candidates on July 26. Incumbent leader Ali Bongo, in power since 2009, is candidate for a third term in office and is expected to face 26 other contenders.
Bongo announced his candidacy on July 9 and promised to better than the 14 years he ran the country. The opposition questioned his fitness to run the nation after a stroke in 2018 and spending months out of the public’s sight recovering.