Gabon: Frédéric Bongo, brother of the deposed president, contests his dismissal from the army

Lieutenant-Colonel Frédéric Bongo, former director general of Special Services in Gabon and half-brother of the deposed president, finds himself at the heart of a controversy after being removed from the army by decree of the transitional president. He categorically denies the coup allegations and plans to challenge the decision in court.

In Gabon, the dismissal of Lieutenant-Colonel Frédéric Bongo from the army, pronounced by the president of the transition, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, sparked reactions and questions. Frédéric Bongo, who previously served as director general of Special Services, the intelligence services of the Gabonese presidency, disputes accusations that he was involved in a coup plot.

An attack on honor

Omar Bongo’s son, Frédéric Bongo, says he is unfairly treated because of his last name. His lawyer, Master Charles Consigny, emphasizes that the terms used in the deregistration decree affect his honor, his probity and his sense of duty. Having served for twenty-five years in the Gabonese army, Frédéric Bongo considers this episode as an attack on his honor and his military career, which pushes him to consider legal action to restore his reputation.

The dismissal of Frédéric Bongo was widely disseminated via social networks, and the reasons given are severe, mentioning “mistakes against honor, probity and general duties”, “mistakes against military discipline”, as well as “breaches of the rules for the execution of services”. However, Frédéric Bongo refutes all these accusations, asserting that they are invented in a political context.