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Omar Bongo: Is the End Near for Africa’s Longest Serving Tyrant?

3 comments

Posted by: News Desk on May 21, 2009 Under: Africa, Gabon, Life & Culture, News Snips, People

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Africa’s Longest Serving President Battles Cancer in Spain

Gabon President Omar Bongo and wife. Circa 2005. Photo Reuters

In 1967, El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba, Gabon’s President, was Africa’s fourth youngest president at age 31.

Now aged 73, Bongo is one of the world’s serving heads of state. Media reports indicates Omar Bongo is being treated in a Barcelona hospital for some chronic illness which may not be unrelated to cancer of the intestine.

Officials and medical sources said Thursday that the 73-year-old Mr. Bongo is being treated at Barcelona’s Quiron clinic.

Earlier in March 2009, Bongo’s wife, Edith Lucie (photo above) died at age 45 in Morocco, after a protracted illness.

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3 comment(s)

  1. Akin | May 22, 2009 | Reply

    Hello,

    The greatest indictment of his lamentable regime of 42 years is that Gabon does not have hospitals that could treat either himself or his wife.

    What kind of leadership is one that cannot bring any appreciable benefits to its people whilst the leaders jet off to foreign lands for the slightest sign of discomfort?

    This is an indictment that applies to probably the whole of African leadership, the inability to raise the standards of infrastructure, education, health and opportunity.

    When would we be able to make all leadership really accountable for their years of disservice?

    Compare this situation to blockaded Communist Cuba where they have the best healthcare in the Western hemisphere and export doctors to many countries – it can be done if leadership is committed and knows their core responsibility.

    The morale of this sordid tale is unAfrican in its context, the king shall not die in his palace surrounded by his subjects who “adore” him but in a non-descript expensive hospital room surrounded by strangers.

    A king that fails to rule with probity will die in a distance in disgrace with everyone breathing a long sigh of relief – Good riddance! To them all.

    Regards,

    Akin

  2. CareTaker | May 22, 2009 | Reply

    Akin, thanks for the comment, and for putting things in context. Cheers!

  3. Chef | May 31, 2009 | Reply

    AMEN…The Paris Club loaned ONE BILLION Dollars for development of the Nation.

    For some strange reason, the flow of funds seems to funnel back to anonymous banks accounts in Europe, oftentimes with Bongo’s signature?

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