Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06LIBREVILLE109
2006-02-13 12:26:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Libreville
Cable title:  

ALLIES OF PRESIDENT'S SON GAIN KEY POSTS IN NEW

Tags:  PGOV GB 
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P 131226Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8808
INFO AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY LUANDA 
AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA 
AMEMBASSY PARIS 
AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000109 

SIPDIS


LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS
KINSHASA PASS BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2016
TAGS: PGOV GB
SUBJECT: ALLIES OF PRESIDENT'S SON GAIN KEY POSTS IN NEW
CABINET

REF: A. LIBREVILLE 49

B. 05 LIBREVILLE 0329

C. 98 LIBREVILLE 2474

Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER GLENN FEDZER FOR REASON
1.4 (B) AND (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000109

SIPDIS


LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS
KINSHASA PASS BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2016
TAGS: PGOV GB
SUBJECT: ALLIES OF PRESIDENT'S SON GAIN KEY POSTS IN NEW
CABINET

REF: A. LIBREVILLE 49

B. 05 LIBREVILLE 0329

C. 98 LIBREVILLE 2474

Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER GLENN FEDZER FOR REASON
1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) Summary: The new cabinet announced by Prime
Minister Eyeghe Ndong on January 23 rewarded all the factions
which had contributed to President Bongo's reelection. The
faction most favored appears to be that associated with
Minister of Defense Ali Bongo, whose allies now control the
national police, the conduct of elections, and oversight of
the media. Other hopefuls in the eventual presidential
successon sweepstakes, however, also gained strength and the
contest remains wide open. End summary.

2.(C) The new cabinet announced by Prime Minister Eyeghe
Ndong on January 23 represents less of a change than most had
expectd. It is widely viewed in Gabon as a stop-gap cabinet,
appointed to serve until after the legislative elections due
in November or December 2006. In assembling the cabinet,
Bongo sought to reward all who helped assure his re-election.
Those given key appointments include members of three major
factions, referred to as "renovators," appellistes," and
"caciques."

The "Renovators" Extend Their Reach
--------------

3. (C) President Bongo's son Ali Bongo Ondimba is
strengthened in the new cabinet. Ali Bongo retains the
Defense portfolio cabinet, but is elevated to the rank of
State Minister. In addition, a number of his allies now hold
key positions. The two most significant are Andre Mba Obame,
elevated from Minister of Social Welfare to Minister of State
for the Interior, and Rene Ndemezo'Obiang, who remains
government spokesman, but shifts portfolios from
Parliamentary Relations to Communications and
Telecommunications. Mba Obame now controls the National
Police and the conduct of elections, while Ndemezo'Obiang
controls most media outlets and a key economic sector.


4. (C) Ali Bongo and his associate Mba Obame now control
all security forces except the Republican Guard, who report
directly to the President. Opposition figures claim neither
will hesitate to order security forces to suppress perceived
threats to the regime, using violence if necessary. Rene
Ndemezo'Obiang (Minister of Telecommunications) reportedly

earned his promotion thanks to his vitriolic attacks on
opposition figures during the November election. Others
placed in Ali's camp include Agricultural Minister Faustin
Goukoubi, Commerce Minister Paul Biyoughe Mba, Culture
Minister Pierre-Marie Dong, and Family Minister Martin
Mabala.

The "Appellistes" Keep Their Hands on the Cookie Jar
-------------- --------------

5. (C) Leaders of the so-called "appellistes" faction --
Finance Minister Paul Toungui and his ally Mines, Energy, and
Oil Minister Richard-Auguste Onouviet -- have both retained
their posts in the new cabinet. They are linked with
Presidential Advisor Jean-Pierre Lemboumba Lepandou,
nicknamed the "strong-box" for his role overseeing the
Presidency's expenditures. Collectively, they reportedly
have the power to funnel money quickly to the President,
either to fund a favored project or to preserve domestic
peace by financially influencing union leaders, politicians,
or village leaders.


6. (C) Lemboumba Lepandou is considered the king maker by
many Gabonese analysts, and remains an implacable enemy of
Ali Bongo (Lemboumba believes Ali Bongo tried to assassinate
him in 1992). Tangui owes his current position to
Lemboumba's patronage, but his marriage to Presidential
daughter and Chief of Staff Pascaline Bongo provides him with
an independent power base. Pascaline is reportedly the only
person with the complete trust of the President, and also
keeps a close eye on the budget of the Presidency.


7. (C) Tangui's camp reportedly include Emmanuel Ondo
Methogo, a Vice Prime Minister who holds the Relations with
Parliament portfolio, Minister of Small and Medium
Enterprises Senturel Ngoma Madoungou, and Sports, Youth, and
Leisure Minister Egide Boundono Simangoye.

The Caciques: Not Ready to Step Aside
--------------


8. (C) Backing some of the younger ministers, and holding
important positions in their own right, are the "Caciques"
(big shots),the old guard of Bongo's PDG (Gabonese
Democratic Party). Their power and influence date from the
early years of the Gabonese Republic. They are survivors of
decades of political infighting, and have built their own
empires within the system, sometimes in collaboration, but
frequently in competition, with each other. They held power
while Ali Bongo was still in grade school (Idriss Ngari, see
para 10, has said as much publicly),and are not inclined to
surrender power to a younger generation of Gabonese. Many
Caciques maintain strong connections with France, and France
is thought to share their opposition to the prospect of Ali
Bongo's assumption of power (President Bongo once told
Ambassador Walkley,"The French don't like my son").


9. (C) Senate President Joseph Rawiri -- along with Omar
Bongo a close protg of Gabon's first President Leon Mba --
is likely the most powerful in this group. Under the
constitution he inherits interim power upon the death of the
President, but his health is rumored to be poor, and he is
widely believed to be happy in his current role. He is not
known to harbor any Presidential ambitions, but has the
institutional and personal influence to hold back those who
do.


10. (C) Another key Cacique is Minister of Public Works
Idriss Ngari, a retired General and one-time Minister of the
Interior. Ngari and Ali Bongo are reportedly bitter rivals,
and Ngari appears able to draw support from senior military
officers and the President's own Beteke ethnic group. Ngari
traveled to South Africa for medical treatment after his
demotion from the Interior Ministry to Public Works in 2004,
and at the time was considered too ill to be a serious rival
for power. He was, alongside Ali Bongo, promoted to
"Minister of State" in the new cabinet, and his health, along
with his political fortunes, seems to have improved.


11. (C) Other Caciques in the Cabinet include Foreign
Minister Jean Ping, Vice Prime Minister Louis-Gaston Mayila,
Planning Minister Casimir Oye Mba, and Minister for Public
Administration and State Modernization Jean-Boniface Assele.
(Assele is described by several Embassy contacts as likely to
be "the first to die" should violent regime change occur
because of the long trail of aggrieved enemies he's left in
his wake.)

Mba Abessole and Bitougat Also Unpopular But Elevated
-------------- --------------

12. (C) Former opposition leader and widely unpopular
turncoat Paul Mba Abessole has gained a promotion in the new
cabinet to Vice Prime Minister, while keeping the
Transportation portfolio. He has already come under fire
within his own party (RBN, National Rally of Woodcutters) for
failing to take his remaining supporters up with him in his
climb to power. Alain-Claude Billie bi Nze, allegedly an
illegitimate son of Mba Abessole, was elevated to Minister
Delegue of Communication, but may be the only support
Abessole can count on in the cabinet. Abessole convinced his
former opposition ally Pierre-Andre Kombila to support, or at
least not oppose, Omar Bongo in the last Presidential
election. Kombila is now Minister of Technical Education,
but is unlikely to be a reliable ally of Mba Abessole.


13. (C) Labor Minister Christiane Bitougat may be the most
criticized choice in the current cabinet. Bitougat was
President of the Teacher's Union before her elevation to the
cabinet, and was widely thought to have been President
Bongo's "Trojan Horse" in the labor movement. Some
independent union leaders openly detest her, which will be
less than helpful if the proposed privatization of Air Gabon,
Gabon Telecom, and Gabon Post spark labor unrest. At a time
when labor negotiations may depend on patience, mutual trust,
and respect, some commentators believe that the outspoken and
acerbic Bitougat is being set up for a fall by President
Bongo, who will then sweep in with envelopes of money and
remedy the situation.

"Geopolitics" and the Bongo System
--------------

14. (C) President Bongo has preserved Gabonese stability
over his long time in office in part by reaching out to and

including representatives of different regions and ethnic
groups; the new cabinet continues this tradition. The new
Minister for the Prevention of Natural Calamities, Jean
Massima, allegedly used large sums of money stolen while in
government service to invest in local enterprises and
building projects in his native Koulamoutou, the capital of
Ogooue-Lolo province. Consequently, he is highly popular at
home, explaining Bongo's decision to include him in the new
cabinet.


15. (C) Other cabinet ministers checking regional or ethnic
boxes include Housing and Urbanism State Minister Jacques
Adiahenot, Vice Prime Minister Georgette Koko, Minister of
Education Albert Ondo Ossa, and Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe
Ndong. Eyedhe Ndong is a nephew of first President Leon Mba
and, like all Prime Ministers under Bongo, comes from the
Fang ethnic group, the largest in Gabon. Another member of
the cabinet from the Leon Mba clan (by marriage) is
Christiane Bitougat (para 13).

It's not that simple
--------------

16. (C) This attribution of the allegiances of different
ministers obscures the ever-changing ties of family and
organization binding the Gabonese elite. Many of the
bitterest rivals are related by blood or have children or
grandchildren in common (opposition figure Zacharie Myboto is
the grandfather of two of President Bongo's many children),
or are tied together ethnically or in organizations such as
the Freemasons. Abessole and Kombila's reconciliation after
eight years of bitter animosity is not unusual, nor is
Bongo's reaching out to and including two of his most
outspoken rivals.


17. (C) Comment: The most important question in Gabonese
politics remains: Who will succeed President Bongo? The
composition of the new cabinet does not provide many hints at
the answer. Ali Bongo has been strengthened, but not at the
expense of his rivals. The system still spreads power and
resources throughout the elite, preserving stability. While
Bongo's health holds, the system should hold, but jockeying
for position over the next few years will increase and
introduce strains.


18. (C) Comment cont: In discussions of succession, Ali
Bongo's name is generally the first one mentioned. Along
with his name, however, come many reasons why he could not or
should not succeed his father. The "disqualifications"
include relatively impersonal assertions that he lacks a
connection to the grassroots (he does not, for example, speak
his own village language) or that France would never stand
for a President Ali Bongo (he speaks excellent English and is
seen by the French as too close to the US). There are also
bizarre slanders circulating, including allegations that he
is really Nigerian rather than Gabonese, or that he is
homosexual. That no other possible candidates attract
anywhere near as much "mud" is testimony to Ali Bongo's
initial prominence in the succession sweepstakes.

WALKLEY

NNNN