Gabon’s Military Junta to Allocate Ill-Gotten Wealth for Public Welfare

Agnes D. Nyanjura
Before the coup, the Bongo family ruled Gabon for 56 years.

Gabon’s Military to Allocate Recovered $12M and 350 Luxury Cars for Public Use

Gabon’s military-led government has declared its intention to invest over $10 million and distribute around 350 luxury vehicles, which were confiscated as part of assets recovered from associates and family members of the former President Ali Bongo. This action comes approximately six weeks after the military junta assumed power.




The government’s stated purpose for these funds is to enhance public infrastructure and services, including water supply, electricity, and education. The military junta, under the leadership of transitional President General Brice Oligui Nguema, has initiated consultations to determine the most effective utilization of assets acquired from former state officials and business figures during the previous administration of President Bongo.




Prime Minister Raymond Ndong Sima disclosed that Nguema instructed him to convene meetings with all government ministers to oversee the allocation of ill-gotten wealth reclaimed by the military junta since their takeover on August 30. Nguema has initiated a determined campaign against corruption and impunity, with the aim of recovering all unlawfully acquired assets.




On Gabon state television, Sima announced that over the past 45 days, the junta has retrieved approximately $11.6 million in cash and nearly 350 luxury vehicles. Nguema, through Gabon’s state media, detailed guidelines for the distribution of these reclaimed vehicles.

According to Nguema, the 344 vehicles recovered from present and former senior state officials and associates of the previous President Bongo should be allocated to government institutions, particularly schools, universities, hospitals, as well as water and electricity companies, to enhance the living standards of the population.

The military junta has not disclosed the sources from which these funds and vehicles were seized, nor has it provided specifics regarding the recovery process. In September, the junta reported the arrest and detention of Noureddin Bongo Valentin, the son of the ousted President Bongo, along with five aides and members of the former leader’s cabinet, on charges including treason and corruption.




Sylvia Bongo Ondimba, the wife of the ousted president, is reportedly under house arrest on charges of corruption, money laundering, and misappropriation of Gabonese state funds. State television broadcasted images of troops searching the residences of former cabinet members, seizing trunks, suitcases, and bags filled with banknotes.

Joseph Marie Efoudo, a political science lecturer at the University of Yaounde, suggests that Nguema aims to demonstrate to the international community that the military junta, which came to power in August, rescued Gabon from decades of authoritarian rule that had impoverished its citizens.

Efoudo believes that by doing so, Nguema anticipates that international sanctions imposed to pressure a return to civilian governance in Gabon may be lifted. Gabon’s opposition and civil society groups also call for investigations into the real estate holdings and substantial sums of money held in foreign banks by the Bongo family and their associates, arguing that repatriating these assets could alleviate the nation’s high levels of poverty.




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