LONG-TERM REPUBLICAN GUARD COMMANDER REMOVED

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000196 SIPDIS SIPDIS LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS LONDON AND PARIS PLEASE PASS MILITARY ATTACHES KINSHASA PASS BRAZZAVILLE E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2016 TAGS: PGOV PINR GB SUBJECT: LONG-TERM REPUBLICAN GUARD COMMANDER REMOVED REF: LIBREVILLE 0050 Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER GLENN FEDZER FOR REASON 1.4 (B) ¶1. (C) General of the Army Andre Oyini, the commander of the Gabonese Republican Guard for more than twenty years, was quietly removed from his post along with several other senior officers. Oyini was replaced by former Deputy Commander Brigadier General Gregoire Kouna. The shakeup is significant, as Gabonese observers believe Oyini was unwilling to support Minister of Defense and presidential son Ali Bongo's presidential ambitions. The Republican Guard answers directly to the President, rather than the Defense Ministry, and is the best paid and equipped Gabonese security force. The removals would have been a presidential decision and were announced in a general list of government appointments in the national press without comment March 27. ¶2. (C) Other announced changes in the Guard include the appointment of Commandant Emmanuel Mboumba Packou as the Deputy Director General. Mboumba Packou visited US intelligence facilities at Molesworth, UK, in January 2006 as part of a Gabonese delegation invited by the US European Command (reftel). The delegation was organized at the request of Ali Bongo, and Bongo likely personally approved the selection of other delegation members. ¶3. (C) Comment: Many believe the removal of Oyini and others was done to solidify Ali Bongo's influence over the security forces. The Republican Guard is outside Ali's chain of command, but the substitutions bring in a new generation of leadership perhaps much more supportive of the Defense Minister and his allies. The elevation of Mboumba Packou, who worked comfortably with a delegation likely containing supporter of Ali, adds further credibility to that argument. WALKLEY