Omar Bongo: Difference between revisions

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Omar Bongo remained in power because of his control over the army and because of Gabon’s elite class personally benefitting from his rule. Royalties from Gabon’s rich petroleum reserves as well as other public funds were siphoned off by Bongo, his family, and prominent government officials and wealthy businessmen. Often these funds were placed in various foreign bank accounts or invested in European properties. Bongo’s reach extended to France where in 1981 he helped bankroll the successful presidential campaign of Jacques Chirac. Over the next two decades Bongo contributed to all of the major French political parties which ensured that country’s support for his regime.

Bongo was one of the wealthiest heads of state in the world, his wealth attributed primarily to oil revenue and alleged corruption. In 1999, an investigation by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on investigations into Citibank estimated that the Gabonese President held US$130 million in the bank's personal accounts, money the Senate report said was "sourced in the public finances of Gabon".

Bongo was cited in recent years during French criminal inquiries into hundreds of millions of euros of illicit payments by Elf Aquitaine, the former French state-owned oil group. One Elf representative testified that the company was giving 50 million euros per year to Bongo to exploit the petrol lands of Gabon.

As of June 2007, Bongo, along with President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo, [[Blaise Compaoré]] of Burkina Faso, [[Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo]] of Equatorial Guinea and [[José Eduardo dos Santos]] from Angola were all being investigated by the French magistrates after the complaint made by French NGOs Survie and Sherpa due to claims that he has used millions of pounds of embezzled public funds to acquire lavish properties in France. The leaders all denied wrongdoing.

Although Bongo was known as one of the most corrupt African rulers he also developed a reputation as a peacemaker for his attempts to bring together warring factions in Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, and Burundi. Also in 2000, Bongo personally bought thousands of dollars worth of computers and textbooks to end a student protest for better materials at Omar Bongo University (formerly the University of Gabon), the county’s only university which in 1978 was renamed in honor of Bongo.

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 Omar Bongo remained in power because of his control over the army and because of Gabon’s elite class personally benefitting from his rule.  Royalties from Gabon’s rich petroleum reserves as well as other public funds were siphoned off by Bongo, his family, and prominent government officials and wealthy businessmen.  Often these funds were placed in various foreign bank accounts or invested in European properties.  Bongo’s reach extended to France where in 1981 he helped bankroll the successful presidential campaign of Jacques Chirac.  Over the next two decades Bongo contributed to all of the major French political parties which ensured that country’s support for his regime.
+Bongo was one of the wealthiest heads of state in the world, his wealth attributed primarily to oil revenue and alleged corruption. In 1999, an investigation by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on investigations into Citibank estimated that the Gabonese President held US$130 million in the bank's personal accounts, money the Senate report said was "sourced in the public finances of Gabon".
+Bongo was cited in recent years during French criminal inquiries into hundreds of millions of euros of illicit payments by Elf Aquitaine, the former French state-owned oil group. One Elf representative testified that the company was giving 50 million euros per year to Bongo to exploit the petrol lands of Gabon.
+As of June 2007, Bongo, along with President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo, [[Blaise Compaoré]] of Burkina Faso, [[Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo]] of Equatorial Guinea and [[José Eduardo dos Santos]] from Angola were all being investigated by the French magistrates after the complaint made by French NGOs Survie and Sherpa due to claims that he has used millions of pounds of embezzled public funds to acquire lavish properties in France. The leaders all denied wrongdoing.
 Although Bongo was known as one of the most corrupt African rulers he also developed a reputation as a peacemaker for his attempts to bring together warring factions in Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, and Burundi.  Also in 2000, Bongo personally bought thousands of dollars worth of computers and textbooks to end a student protest for better materials at Omar Bongo University (formerly the University of Gabon), the county’s only university which in 1978 was renamed in honor of Bongo.