15 JULY 2009

Initially, Gabon Prime Minister Jean Ndong denied vehemently reports in a French newspaper that President Omar Bongo had died. "I had visited the President this morning," he claimed in a statement and all was well. Indeed, he added, his government intended to officially protest to France "repeated deviations by its press concerning the health of President Bongo." The Ambassador of France in Libreville was called to the Foreign Ministry for a vehement rebuke. "Everyone has followed with surprise and dissatisfaction the wrong information circulated by public and private media in France and remarks by some French officials," the official note announced. President Bongo, it assured everyone, had merely entered a hospital for a simple regular check-up seeking some rest following the death of his wife last month. Reports that he had cancer of the pancreas were unfounded.

President Omar Bongo was one of the closest allies of Paris, a prominent symbol of what was famously known as "France Afrique," a complex interrelationship of military, business, social, political and personnel set-up throughout a number of Francophone countries. Unchecked use of his country's oil revenue to buy off overwhelming influence in France allowed unquestioned rule for over 40 years. "France without Africa is like a car without a carburetor," he often said. He did not shy away from getting involved in French politics when he felt necessary. Le Canard Enchaine repeated last week the famous story about President Bongo's financial support for Jacques Chirac in his first presidential bid against incumbent Valery Giscard d'Estaing. When the then French President telephoned the Gabonese in Libreville to raise the question, the only response he got after a brief pause was: "Oh, you know." As Mr. Chirac knows, Mr. Bongo was emboldened further in his absolute rule, entrusting Internal Affairs to his son Ali and Finances to his daughter Pascaline. When some French newspapers wrote about questionable real estate deals, extravagant expenditures or political payoffs, President Bongo and his multi-faceted friends swiftly clamped down using what the French described as "raison d'etat" (reasons of state interest). Even his serious illness was treated as a state secret. However, it was the muzzled media that eventually has the last word: his obituary.