Foreign News
From Libreville, An Ugly Postcard
By Chidi Amuta
The immediate past president of Gabon, Mr. Ali Bongo Ondimbo, has joined the new crop of video -posting toppled rulers.
The luxurious expanse of his gold plated presidential mansion in Libreville has shrunk into a tiny sitting space surrounded by book shelves and inconsequential furniture. From here, he has posted an online video that casually urged the world to ‘make some noise’ to draw attention to his altered circumstances. He of course pretends to be unaware of what is happening around him as he admits he is confined to a room while the whereabouts of his wife and family are yet uncertain.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-6709758369371331&output=html&h=280&slotname=2123119829&adk=465047999&adf=2676246547&pi=t.ma~as.2123119829&w=644&fwrn=4&fwrnh=100&lmt=1693736032&rafmt=1&format=644×280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalaccordnewspaper.com%2Ffrom-libreville-an-ugly-postcard-by-chidi-amuta%2F&host=ca-host-pub-2644536267352236&fwr=0&fwrattr=true&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&wgl=1&uach=WyJtYWNPUyIsIjEwLjEyLjYiLCJ4ODYiLCIiLCIxMDMuMC41MDYwLjEzNCIsW10sMCxudWxsLCI2NCIsW1siLk5vdC9BKUJyYW5kIiwiOTkuMC4wLjAiXSxbIkdvb2dsZSBDaHJvbWUiLCIxMDMuMC41MDYwLjEzNCJdLFsiQ2hyb21pdW0iLCIxMDMuMC41MDYwLjEzNCJdXSwwXQ..&dt=1693736032201&bpp=1&bdt=948&idt=404&shv=r20230830&mjsv=m202308290101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Df5adffd583b64c9b-229526ea10d600fc%3AT%3D1666132495%3ART%3D1693736013%3AS%3DALNI_Ma693dnNsBzLrK_vRGO5C1xWYmQPA&gpic=UID%3D00000b12d62d6e07%3AT%3D1666132495%3ART%3D1693736013%3AS%3DALNI_Malo7GCYB-ozwNUzBx8cU6CU7j_2w&prev_fmts=0x0%2C644x280&nras=1&correlator=4018695916601&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1995591903.1666132495&ga_sid=1693736032&ga_hid=1156506440&ga_fc=1&u_tz=60&u_his=6&u_h=800&u_w=1280&u_ah=739&u_aw=1280&u_cd=24&u_sd=1&dmc=4&adx=25&ady=1407&biw=1029&bih=659&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=44759842%2C44759875%2C44759926%2C44796632%2C44801881&oid=2&pvsid=2968901827039517&tmod=829431005&uas=0&nvt=1&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalaccordnewspaper.com%2Fcategory%2Fopinion%2F&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C23%2C0%2C23%2C1280%2C23%2C1044%2C738%2C1044%2C659&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CoEebr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=3&uci=a!3&btvi=1&fsb=1&xpc=sE2HGBXB0s&p=https%3A//www.nationalaccordnewspaper.com&dtd=411 https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-6709758369371331&output=html&h=280&slotname=2824164842&adk=1841859071&adf=1676647969&pi=t.ma~as.2824164842&w=644&fwrn=4&fwrnh=100&lmt=1693736032&rafmt=1&format=644×280&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalaccordnewspaper.com%2Ffrom-libreville-an-ugly-postcard-by-chidi-amuta%2F&host=ca-host-pub-2644536267352236&fwr=0&fwrattr=true&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&wgl=1&uach=WyJtYWNPUyIsIjEwLjEyLjYiLCJ4ODYiLCIiLCIxMDMuMC41MDYwLjEzNCIsW10sMCxudWxsLCI2NCIsW1siLk5vdC9BKUJyYW5kIiwiOTkuMC4wLjAiXSxbIkdvb2dsZSBDaHJvbWUiLCIxMDMuMC41MDYwLjEzNCJdLFsiQ2hyb21pdW0iLCIxMDMuMC41MDYwLjEzNCJdXSwwXQ..&dt=1693736032202&bpp=1&bdt=949&idt=441&shv=r20230830&mjsv=m202308290101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Df5adffd583b64c9b-229526ea10d600fc%3AT%3D1666132495%3ART%3D1693736013%3AS%3DALNI_Ma693dnNsBzLrK_vRGO5C1xWYmQPA&gpic=UID%3D00000b12d62d6e07%3AT%3D1666132495%3ART%3D1693736013%3AS%3DALNI_Malo7GCYB-ozwNUzBx8cU6CU7j_2w&prev_fmts=0x0%2C644x280%2C644x280&nras=1&correlator=4018695916601&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=1995591903.1666132495&ga_sid=1693736032&ga_hid=1156506440&ga_fc=1&u_tz=60&u_his=6&u_h=800&u_w=1280&u_ah=739&u_aw=1280&u_cd=24&u_sd=1&dmc=4&adx=25&ady=1695&biw=1029&bih=659&scr_x=0&scr_y=0&eid=44759842%2C44759875%2C44759926%2C44796632%2C44801881&oid=2&pvsid=2968901827039517&tmod=829431005&uas=0&nvt=1&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalaccordnewspaper.com%2Fcategory%2Fopinion%2F&fc=1920&brdim=0%2C23%2C0%2C23%2C1280%2C23%2C1044%2C738%2C1044%2C659&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7CoEebr%7C&abl=CS&pfx=0&fu=128&bc=31&ifi=4&uci=a!4&btvi=2&fsb=1&xpc=PIXeAiBNBA&p=https%3A//www.nationalaccordnewspaper.com&dtd=452
In the last couple of months, some of the footages of Mr. Ali Bongo’s public appearances before the coup showed an infirm man recovering from a debilitating stroke but still firmly in power as the c heir to a family political dynasty that has presided over Gabon for the last 55 years. The younger Bongo is the son of former President, Omar Bongo who often wore high wedge shoes covered by a baggy James Brown -style ‘bongo’ trousers to enhance his dimunitive proportions.
In spite of his personal infirmity and the obviously dysfunctional state of Gabon, Mr. Bongo went ahead to prepare for last weekend’s presidential election. He predictably ‘won’ the election. Opposition parties and groups throughout Gabon however dismissed the election as a fraudulent sham. Mr. Bongo clung to his victory and power nonetheless but was quickly toppled in a palace military coup, barely four days after. The election would have given him a third term in an office he assumed in 2009. He had tweaked the constitution to give himself room for a third presidential term.
Soon after the election of last weekend, it was predictable that his party, the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) which he inherited from his late father would win. With a time tested combination of rigging, violence and official intimidation, the perpetual victory of the ruling party was fairly much guaranteed. But opposition forces had of late increased in strength and been joined by masses of disenchanted youth and the urban poor. Gabon, a nation of a little over 2.4 million people has the fourth highest GDP per head in sub Saharan Africa but lately wracked by unemployment and poverty.
Mounting political opposition led to a belated coalition of 16 opposition parties into an electoral alliance that presented a joint candidate to challenge Mr. Bongo at last weekend’s presidential election. That did not alter what was a foregone outcome in what has become a typical African sit -tight tradition of democratic persistence disguised as succession.
In continuation of a recent fashion among French speaking African countries, Gabon has fallen to the new coup contagion. The military struck barely four days after the election results were announced. In a televised photo opportunity that has become typical of the recent Franco-phone coups, a group of soldiers appeared on Gabonese national television to announce that they had decided to topple the democratic order ‘in the name of the Gabonese people’.
Predictably, they declared last weekend’s presidential elections as flawed, dubious and therefore annulled. Typically, the soldiers have suspended the constitution and all institutions of the state. They have also placed the ousted president under house arrest while taking in one of his sons on a charge of ‘high treason.’ As it turns out, the cop leader and transitional president is Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, commander of the presidential guards and a cousin of Ali Bongo.
The coup in Gabon comes barely two months after that in Niger which is still the centre of feverish activity within ECOWAS and the African Union. The Gabon coup merely increases the tally of a series of coups that have ravaged Franco-phone Africa. In quick succession, Sudan, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and now Gabon have all literally fallen onto the sword. Previous coups in the countries under review have been advanced and marketed as the result of a series of identical causes ranging from insecurity caused by Sahelian jihadist terrorists to economic adversity and political misrule by leaders enthroned by democratic elections.
The Gabonese coup has pointedly indicated an open political dimension. The Gabonese military has added its voice to that of African opposition parties who have of late decried abuses in recent African democratic elections. The Gabonese coup makers have been clear and direct in joining their voice to that of opposition parties and groups. They have openly rejected the conduct and outcome of last weekend’s presidential election in Gabon as well as the long misrule under the Bongo dynasty.
Without doubt, all the coup makers in French -speaking West and Central Africa have acquired their audacity as a result of one single factor: the reduction and even outright decline in French presence and influence in the region. The disengagement of France from its former African coloniesis is the direct result of a latter day revolt by African countries against certain extant exploitative colonial era arrangements between France and its former African colonies. This arrangement which has gained recent currency defines an essentially exploitative economic relationship between France and its former African colonies.
According to the outlines of the arrangement, France has retained tight control over the international financial transactions of these former colonies as well as curtailed the autonomy of their central banks. This has made these countries subject to French supervision and ultimate financial authority. Therefore, the political storm at the bottom of these recent coups seems to be a general revolt of former African French colonies against the last vestiges of a colonial relationship that has left these countries politically independent but
Financially and economically dependent on Paris.
The progressive French disengagement from Africa has also removed the safety switch of ready French intervention and stabilization forces which used to be the guarantee against instability and wider insecurity in these countries. In the absence of standby French intervention and stabilization forces, the frail armies of these countries have taken to an easier recourse to coups to assert some authority.
The frenzy of coups in West and Central Africa will destabilize the region strategically in the near term. It may end up destabilizing not just the region but also upsetting an already stressed global order. The decline of French influence and military presence in the region exposes Western oriented countries in West and Central Africa to direct jihadist terrorist threat. More dangerously, West and Central Africa are now under the direct threat of recent Russian ambition and influence through the conspicuous presence and activities of the Wagner Group of mercenaries in the region.
For Africa, the recent spate of coups challenges our leaders to increase confidence in democracy by ensuring that the processes and practice of democracy meet the hopes of the people. But this is not just an African challenge. For the free world, there is a clear and urgent task of restoring confidence in democracy by using diplomatic pressure to roll back the specter of coups in Central and West Africa.
For the West, there is an immediate issue of defending a vital sphere of western influence from the ills of authoritarian rule and potential Russian influence. The ultimate question for the West is not merely diplomacy as usual. It is also an overarching moral burden. When and where does democracy deserve and qualify to be defended by its global champions? There must be a clear indication that global democracy has a guarantor that will stoutly defend it whenever and wherever it is under threat. Democracy is clearly under threat in Africa today. How the West responds will determine whether the forces of authoritarianism championed by China and Russia will prevail in the contest for a new world order or beat a retreat.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has approved the text of a draft law guaranteeing the freedom of two anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine – days after nationwide protests broke out over changes curbing their independence.
Kyiv’s Western partners had also expressed serious concerns over the legislation.
On Thursday, Zelensky seemed to backtrack, saying the new bill was intended to safeguard the independence of Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sap), and to protect them from Russian influence.
He said the text of the bill was “balanced”, but did not provide any details.
The law passed earlier this week brought Nabu and Sap under the control of the prosecutor general, who is appointed by the president.
At the time Zelensky justified his decision to curtail the bodies’ powers by citing Russian influence. The day before, Ukraine’s security services had carried out searches and arrests targeting alleged Russian spies at the agency.
The passing of the legislation instantly sparked the largest protests since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 in several cities across Ukraine, with many worrying the law would severely undermine the Nabu and Sap’s authority and effectiveness.
Thousands of people gathered in streets and squares across Ukraine, holding placards calling for the legislation to be vetoed.
Several commentators accused Zelensky of democratic backsliding. Their concerns were further exacerbated when Ukraine’s Western partners signalled their displeasure with the bill.
Ukraine has official EU candidate status and a spokesman for European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen previously warned Kyiv that the rule of law and the fight against corruption were “core elements” of membership to the bloc.
On Thursday, the Commission said it “welcomed” the Ukrainian government’s decision to take action against the bill.
“We are working [with the Ukrainian government] to make sure that our concerns… are indeed taken into account,” the spokesman said.
Nabu and Sap were created in 2014-15 as one of the requirements set by the European Commission and International Monetary Fund to move towards a relaxation of visa restrictions between Ukraine and the EU.
Writing on Facebook, opposition MP Oleksiy Goncharenko noted Zelensky said that “the independence of anti-corruption institutions must be guaranteed.”
“First we take it away, and then we say that it must be guaranteed. So why was all this necessary?”
In his message on social media on Thursday, Zelensky did not acknowledge the protests or the backlash but said it was “important that we respect the position of all Ukrainians and are grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine.”
Republicans in the US Senate have said they will spare the US-backed HIV/Aids programme Pepfar from cuts, amid a larger effort to reduce government spending.
Senators said they would end a plan to cut $400m (£300m) from the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief programme, leaving total proposed cuts at $9bn.
The proposition was made in a Senate amendment to a rescissions package – meaning a bill that allows lawmakers to cancel previous funding approved by Congress.
The planned cancellations also include funds for international aid and public broadcasting.If the Pepfar amendment is approved, the bill will go back to the House of Representatives for another vote ahead of a Friday deadline.
Multiple senators from both parties had expressed concern with cuts to Pepfar, which was launched under President George W Bush and has been credited with saving tens of millions of lives around the world.
The Republican-controlled Senate can only afford a few defectors, assuming all Democrats vote in opposition. John Thune, the Republican Senate majority leader, said there had been a “lot of interest” in keeping the Pepfar funding intact.
Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, told reporters after a White House lunch on Tuesday that she was “very pleased” that the cuts would be removed.
Prior to the amendment, Collins had been vocal against the bill. She has not said whether the changes are enough to secure her support.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought told reporters that the White House was on board with the Senate amendment, meaning that in its current form President Donald Trump would be willing to sign it.
In his second presidency, Trump has turbo-charged an effort to reduce government spending. Most of the cuts in the rescission bill are aimed at clawing back money that was previously earmarked for the American government’s main humanitarian assistance body, USAID, which recently announced its formal closure under Trump.
Trump’s moves have led to drastic reductions in HIV/Aids clinics in South Africa and other countries, precipitating a shortage of life-saving medicine and care.
Other cuts in the rescission bill are aimed at the funding for public broadcasters NPR and PBS.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Senegal’s elimination of trachoma as a public health problem, making it the ninth country in WHO’s African Region to have achieved the feat.
WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus, in a statement, lauded the country for freeing its population of the disease.
“This milestone is yet another sign of the remarkable progress being made against neglected tropical diseases globally, and offers hope to other countries still working to eliminate trachoma.
”Trachoma has been known in Senegal since the early 1900s and was confirmed as a major cause of blindness through surveys in the 1980s and 1990s.
Senegal joined the WHO Alliance for the Global Elimination of Trachoma in 1998, conducted its first national survey in 2000, and completed full disease mapping by 2017 with support from the Global Trachoma Mapping Project and Tropical Data.
Trachoma control was consistently integrated into national eye health programmes – first under the National Programme for Blindness Prevention (PNLC) and later through the National Programme for the Promotion of Eye Health (PNPSO).
The country’s consistent integration of trachoma control into its national eye health programmes positioned it to significantly maintain its commitment to the elimination of the disease.
“Today we celebrate our victory against trachoma, 21 years after the one against dracunculiasis”, Dr Ibrahima Sy, Senegal’s Minister of Health and Social Action, said.
“This new milestone reminds us that our overarching goal remains a Senegal free from neglected tropical diseases.
“We are fully committed to this, and we are making good progress, notably against human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) and onchocerciasis”.
Senegal implemented the WHO-recommended SAFE strategy to eliminate trachoma with the support of partners, reaching 2.8 million people who needed them across 24 districts.
These activities included the provision of surgery to treat the late blinding stage of the disease and conducting antibiotic mass drug administration of azithromycin donated by Pfizer through the International Trachoma Initiative.
Similarly, public awareness campaigns were carried out to promote facial cleanliness and improvement in access to water supply and sanitation.
Trachoma is the second neglected tropical disease to be eliminated in Senegal. In 2004, the country was certified free of dracunculiasis (Guinea-worm disease) transmission.
Senegal now joins 24 other countries that have been validated by WHO for eliminating trachoma.
The 24 countries are Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Gambia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Ghana, India, Iraq, Malawi, and Mali.
The others are Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Togo, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.
These countries are part of a wider group of 57 countries that have eliminated one or more neglected tropical diseases.
WHO is supporting Senegal’s health authorities to closely monitor communities in which trachoma was previously endemic, to ensure there is no resurgence of the disease.
“Trachoma has cast a shadow over communities in Senegal for more than a century.
“This long-awaited validation is not only a milestone for public health but a powerful tribute to the tireless dedication of frontline health workers, communities, government leaders, and partners who never gave up,” Dr. Jean-Marie Vianny Yameogo, WHO Representative in Senegal, said.
“Today, we close a chapter that began over a hundred years ago, united with pride, gratitude and resolve. WHO remains committed to supporting Senegal as the country continues to lead in sustaining this hard-earned achievement.”
Trachoma remains a public health problem in 32 countries, with an estimated 103 million people living in areas requiring interventions against the disease.
Trachoma is found mainly in the poorest and most rural areas of Africa, Central and South America, Asia, the Western Pacific and the Middle East.
WHO’s African Region is disproportionately affected by trachoma, with 93 million people living in at-risk areas in April 2024, representing 90% of the global trachoma burden.
Significant progress has been made in the fight against trachoma over the past few years, and the number of people requiring antibiotic treatment for trachoma in the African Region fell by 96 million from 189 million in 2014 to 93 million as of April 2024, representing a 51 percent reduction.
There are currently 20 countries in WHO’s African Region that are known to require intervention for trachoma elimination.
They are Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Guinea.
The others are Kenya, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, South Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
A further 3 countries in the Region (Botswana, Guinea-Bissau and Namibia) claim to have achieved the prevalence targets for elimination.
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