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Events in the year 2019 in Gabon .
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Events in the year 2019 in Gabon .
Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic, is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and south, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has an area of 270,000 square kilometres (100,000 sq mi) and a population of 2.3 million people. There are coastal plains, mountains, and a savanna in the east. Libreville is the country's capital and largest city.
Little is known of the history of Gabon before European contact. Bantu migrants settled the area beginning in the 14th century. Portuguese explorers and traders arrived in the area in the late 15th century. The coast subsequently became a centre of the transatlantic slave trade with European slave traders arriving to the region in the 16th century. In 1839 and 1841, France established a protectorate over the coast. In 1849, captives released from a captured slave ship founded Libreville. In 1862–1887, France expanded its control including the interior of the state, and took full sovereignty. In 1910 Gabon became part of French Equatorial Africa and in 1960, Gabon became independent.
The president of Gabon is the head of state of Gabon. A total of three people have served as president since the post was formed in 1960.
Omar Bongo Ondimba was a Gabonese politician who was the second president of Gabon from 1967 until his death in 2009. Bongo was promoted to key positions as a young official under Gabon's first President Léon M'ba in the 1960s, before being elected the second vice-president in his own right in 1966. In 1967, he succeeded M'ba to become the country's president, upon the latter's death.
Jean Ping is a Gabonese diplomat and politician who served as Chair of the African Union Commission from 2008 to 2012. Born to a Chinese father and Gabonese mother, he is the first individual of Chinese descent to lead the executive branch of the African Union.
Ali Bongo Ondimba, also known as Ali Bongo and Ali Ben Bongo, is a Gabonese former politician who was the third president of Gabon from 2009 to 2023. He is a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party. He is the son of Omar Bongo, who was president of Gabon from 1967 until his death in 2009. During his father's presidency, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1991, represented Bongoville as a deputy in the National Assembly from 1991 to 1999, and was the Minister of Defense from 1999 to 2009. After his father's death, he won the 2009 Gabonese presidential election. He was reelected in 2016, in elections marred by numerous irregularities, arrests, human rights violations, and post-election protests and violence.
Pascaline Mferri Bongo Ondimba is a Gabonese politician. Under her father, President Omar Bongo, she was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1994 and Director of the Cabinet of the President from 1994 to 2009.
Early presidential elections were held in Gabon on 30 August 2009. They took place due to the death of incumbent President Omar Bongo on 8 June, after more than 41 years as the sole president of Gabon. While the constitution stated that interim President Rose Francine Rogombé should organise elections within 30 to 45 days, the Constitutional Court accepted the government's request for a delay due to the circumstances.
Franck Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet was a Gabonese diplomat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Gabon from 2016 to 2019.
Sylvia Valentin Bongo Ondimba has been the wife of Ali Bongo Ondimba since 1989. She became the First Lady of Gabon following the inauguration of her husband as President of Gabon on 16 October 2009. She created the Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation, "For the family", in January 2011 "to improve the plight of vulnerable and disadvantaged people around the world". On August 30, 2023, her husband, Ali Bongo, was deposed after 14 years of rule, ending her term as First Lady and subsequently leading to her detention.
Presidential elections were held in Gabon on 27 August 2016. Incumbent President Ali Bongo Ondimba ran for re-election and was challenged by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean Ping. On 31 August, the electoral commission proclaimed Bongo's re-election with a margin of less than two percent. Large protests broke out in the capital Libreville after the results were announced. Irregularities such as Haut-Ogoou showing that 99.9% of the electorate had voted and Bongo had received 95.5% of the votes led to observers questioning the conduct of the election.
The following lists events the happened during 2016 in Gabon.
On 7 January 2019, members of the Armed Forces of Gabon announced a coup d'état in Gabon. Military officers claimed that they had ousted President Ali Bongo, who was re-elected in 2016 after a controversial election and protests. During the absence of Ali Bongo, who was receiving medical treatment in Morocco, armed rebels in the capital city Libreville took hostages and declared that they had established a "National Restoration Council" to "restore democracy in Gabon". Widespread internet outages occurred throughout the country, though it is unknown whether the Internet was shut down by the rebels themselves or by civilians. Gabon's government later declared that it had reasserted control.
Julien Nkoghe Bekale is a Gabonese politician who served as the prime minister of Gabon from 2019 to 2020. In the aftermath of the 2019 Gabonese coup d'état attempt, he was appointed prime minister by president Ali Bongo Ondimba on 12 January 2019.
The Gabonese Republican Guard is an independent military formation in the Republic of Gabon that is responsible for protection of government officials and buildings. It is the most powerful security unit in Gabon and is responsible for ensuring internal security. It is a directly reporting unit of the National Gendarmerie.
Events in the year 2012 in Gabon.
Events in the year 2009 in Gabon.
General elections were held in Gabon on 26 August 2023. Incumbent president Ali Bongo ran for re-election, representing the Gabonese Democratic Party, which had ruled the country continuously since its independence from France in 1960, including 41 years under Bongo's father, Omar.
Events in the year 2023 in Gabon.
On 30 August 2023, a coup d'état occurred in Gabon shortly after the announcement that incumbent president Ali Bongo had won the general election held on 26 August. It was the eighth successful coup to occur in West and Central Africa since 2020.
 Years in Gabon (1960–present) | |
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