Gabon: new ruler lobbies for lifting of sanctions, wife of deposed leader charged with ‘money laundering’

Gabon’s post-coup ruler has visited The Congo to improve the relations between the two neighbors and lobby for the easing of his country’s international isolation after a group of military officers overthrew Ali Bongo Ondimba whose family had ruled Gabon since 1967.
General Brice Oligui Nguema, who met with Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso on Sunday (1 October), said his visit was aimed at improving the ties and easing Gabon’s international isolation following the coup. “It is also to ease the sanctions… we hope to once again take our place among the nations,” said Gabon’s new strongman, whose country was suspended from the African Union and the Economic Community of Central Africa States (ECCAS) after the change of government. ECCAS has also ordered the immediate transfer of its headquarters from Gabon’s Libreville to the capital city of Equatorial Guinea. Many in Gabon saw Ali Bongo’s overthrow as an act of liberation rather than a military coup.
In a separate but related development, the Franco-Gabonese wife of Gabon’s deposed leader has been charged with “money laundering” and other offenses, including concealment and forgery, the public prosecutor said Friday (29 September), a month after a coup toppled her husband. She also faces other charges including concealment and forgery, he said. Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin has been under house arrest in the capital Libreville since her husband was overthrown. Her eldest son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, has already been charged with corruption and embezzling public funds with several former cabinet members and two ex-ministers.