Patrice Tonda

Last updated

Patrice Tonda is a Gabonese politician and diplomat. He served in the government of Gabon as Minister of Housing from 2007 to 2008 and then as Minister of Trade and Industrial Development, in charge of NEPAD, from 2008 to 2009.

Contents

Early career and teaching

Tonda is an engineer with a degree in experimental physics. After working at a uranium mining company as Deputy Director-General beginning in 1981, he was appointed as a special adviser on mining to President Omar Bongo in 1988, and he was professor of industrial economics at the Institut National Supérieur de Gestion, part of the University of Libreville, from 1989 to 1990. Subsequently he worked in Belgium as the CEO of Wongo International and professor of experimental physics at l'Athénée Royal d'Ath from 1991 to 1993. [1]

Diplomatic career

Tonda became Gabon's Ambassador to Senegal in 1996, and in 1997 he was additionally accredited as Ambassador to Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, and Guinea. He was appointed as Permanent Representative of Gabon to the United Nations at Geneva in 2003; while remaining Permanent Representative to the United Nations at Geneva, he was also appointed as Permanent Representative to United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), based in Vienna, in 2006. He presented his credentials as Permanent Representative to UNIDO on 23 November 2006. [1]

Following extended negotiations, the United Nations Human Rights Council appointed Tonda as one of six members of a team to investigate violence in Darfur in late January 2007. The composition of the team, which was headed by Jody Williams, was the result of a compromise between Western countries, which had a very critical view of the Sudanese government's actions, and African and Arab countries, which were more sympathetic to the Sudanese government. [2] The members of the UN team were not given visas and therefore were forced to conduct their research using information available outside of Sudan. [3] Sudan furiously denounced the team, and Tonda returned to Geneva during the team's futile wait for visas. He nevertheless remained part of the team. [4]

Political career

Tonda was appointed to the government of Gabon as Minister of Lodgings, Housing, and Urban Planning on 28 December 2007. [5] [6] He was then moved to the position of Minister of Trade and Industrial Development, in charge of NEPAD, on 7 October 2008. [7] [8]

Bongo died in June 2009. After Bongo's son, Ali Bongo Ondimba, won the 30 August 2009 presidential election, Tonda was dismissed from the government on 17 October 2009. [9] He was then appointed as Chairman of the Board of Gabon Telecom on 19 October 2009. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Gabon</span> Overview

The politics of Gabon takes place in a framework of a republic whereby the president of Gabon is head of state and in effect, also the head of government, since he appoints the prime minister and his cabinet. The government is divided into three branches: the executive headed by the prime minister, the legislative that is formed by the two chambers of parliament, and the judicial branch. The judicial branch is technically independent and equal to the two other branches, although in practice, since its judges are appointed by the president, it is beholden to the same president. Since independence the party system is dominated by the conservative Gabonese Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodolphe Adada</span> Congolese politician and diplomat

Rodolphe Adada is a Congolese politician and diplomat. During the single-party rule of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT), he served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of Mines and Energy from 1977 to 1984, as Minister of Mines and Oil from 1984 to 1989, and as Minister of Secondary and Higher Education from 1989 to 1991. Later, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Denis Sassou Nguesso from 1997 to 2007 and Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the African Union for Darfur from 2007 to 2009. He returned to the government of Congo-Brazzaville in 2009, serving as Minister of State for Industrial Development from 2009 to 2012, and as Minister of State for Transport from 2012 to 2016. He has been Ambassador to France since 2016.

Paul Mba Abessole is a Gabonese politician who heads the National Woodcutters' Rally – Rally for Gabon and was a leading opponent of President Omar Bongo during the 1990s. He stood as a presidential candidate twice during the 1990s and also served as Mayor of Libreville, the capital. From 2002 to 2009 he served in the government of Gabon, holding the rank of Deputy Prime Minister for most of that period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Bongo</span> President of Gabon from 2009 to 2023

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.

Pierre Mamboundou was a Gabonese politician. He was President of the Union of the Gabonese People (UPG), an opposition party in Gabon, from 1989 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Eyeghé Ndong</span> 20th and 21st-century Prime Minister of Gabon

Jean Eyeghé Ndong is a Gabonese politician. He was the Prime Minister of Gabon from January 20, 2006 to July 17, 2009. He was also the First Vice-president of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) until 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmad Allam-Mi</span> Chadian diplomat

Ahmad Allam-Mi is a Chadian diplomat who has been Secretary-General of the Economic Community of Central African States since 2013. He was the Foreign Minister of Chad from 2005 to 2008, and he was Chad's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2008 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laure Olga Gondjout</span> Gabonese politician

Laure Olga Gondjout is a Gabonese politician. She served in the government of Gabon as Minister of Communication and Telecommunications from 2007 to 2008, as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2008, and again as Minister of Communication and Digital Economy from 2008 to 2011. Subsequently she was Secretary-General of the Presidency from 2011 to 2014. She has served as Ombudsman from February 2014 to January 2019

Idriss Ngari is a Gabonese politician and army general. A relative of President Omar Bongo, Ngari rose rapidly through the ranks of the army, ultimately serving as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces from 1984 to 1994. He then held a succession of posts in the government of Gabon, serving as Minister of Defense from 1994 to 1999, Minister of Transport from 1999 to 2002, Minister of the Interior from 2002 to 2004, Minister of Public Works from 2004 to 2007, Minister of Tourism from 2007 to 2009, and finally as Minister of Health in 2009. Considered one of Gabon's most powerful figures during Omar Bongo's rule, Ngari is a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG).

Faustin Boukoubi is a Gabonese politician who served as the President of the National Assembly of Gabon since 11 January 2019 and has been the Secretary-General of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) since 2008. He previously served in the government of Gabon as Minister of Public Health from 1997 to 2004 and as Minister of Agriculture from 2004 to 2008.

André Mba Obame was a Gabonese politician. After serving as an adviser to President Omar Bongo in the 1980s, he was a minister in the government of Gabon from 1990 to 1991 and again from 1997 to 2009; during that time, he was identified with the reformist wing of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG). He held the key post of Minister of the Interior from 2006 to 2009 and then briefly served as Minister of the Coordination and Follow-up of Government Action in mid-2009. He was an independent candidate in the 30 August 2009 presidential election and placed third with 25.33% of the vote, according to official results, but he claimed victory and alleged that the PDG candidate, Ali Bongo, won through fraud.

Honorine Dossou Naki is a Gabonese politician and diplomat. She was Gabon's Ambassador to France from 1994 to 2002 and subsequently served in the Gabonese government from 2002 to 2009.

Richard Auguste Onouviet is a Gabonese politician who served as President of the National Assembly of Gabon from 8 April 2016 to 30 April 2018. Holding a succession of ministerial portfolios, Onouviet served in the government of Gabon as Minister of Water and the Environment from 1999 to 2002, Minister of Mines, Energy, and Oil from 2002 to 2007, Minister of Planning from 2007 to 2009, and as Minister of Decentralization and Urban Policy in 2009. A member of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), he has been a Deputy in the National Assembly since 2009.

Vincent Essone Mengue is a Gabonese politician. He served in the government of Gabon as Minister of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, the Social Economy, and the Fight Against Poverty from 2007 to 2009.

Emile Doumba is a Gabonese politician. After heading the International Bank for Trade and Industry of Gabon, he was Minister of Finance from 1999 to 2002, then Minister of the Forest Economy from 2002 to 2009. He was briefly Minister of Urban and Regional Planning from June 2009 to July 2009 and Minister of Energy, Hydraulic Resources, and New Energies from July 2009 to October 2009. Since October 2009, he has been Minister for Relations with Parliament and the Constitutional Institutions, Regional Integration, and NEPAD, in charge of Human Rights.

Sylvestre Augustin Ratanga is a Gabonese politician and diplomat. He served as Gabon's Ambassador to Germany and was later the Secretary-General of the Gabonese Union for Democracy and Development (UGDD), an opposition party. Abandoning the UGDD, he then served in the government as Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation from January 2009 to October 2009, and he has been Chairman of the Board of the Gabonese Refining Company since October 2009.

Paul Biyoghé Mba is a Gabonese politician who was Prime Minister of Gabon from July 2009 to February 2012. A member of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), he served for years as a minister in the government prior to his appointment as Prime Minister. From 2012 to 2015, he was President of the Economic and Social Council of Gabon, and he has again served in the government as First Deputy Prime Minister for Health since 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet</span> Gabonese diplomat and politician (1961–2020)

Franck Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet was a Gabonese diplomat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Gabon from 2016 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julien Nkoghe Bekale</span> Prime Minister of Gabon from 2019 to 2020

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.

Events in the year 2008 in Gabon.

References

  1. 1 2 "Gabon Ambassador Patrice Tonda presents credentials". 23 November 2006. Archived from the original on 10 May 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  2. ↑ Tim Korte, "Jody Williams to Lead Mission to Darfur" [ dead link ], Associated Press, 26 January 2007.
  3. ↑ "Lacking Visas, UN Mission On Darfur to Carry Out Work Without Visit to Country", UN News Service, 14 February 2007.
  4. ↑ Tim Korte, "Sudan tries to block U.N. rights body from considering Darfur atrocities report", Associated Press, 13 March 2007.
  5. ↑ "Formation d'un nouveau gouvernement au Gabon" [ permanent dead link ], Panapress, 29 December 2007 (in French).
  6. ↑ "Gabon : Le président Omar Bongo Ondimba remanie son gouvernement" Archived May 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine , Infosplusgabon, 29 December 2007 (in French).
  7. ↑ List of governments of Gabon Archived November 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine , IZF.net (in French).
  8. ↑ "Oct 2008 - New cabinet", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 54, October, 2008 Gabon, Page 48815.
  9. ↑ "Gabon: Liste complète du nouveau gouvernement gabonais" Archived 2009-10-21 at the Wayback Machine , Gabonews, 17 October 2009 (in French).
  10. ↑ "Conseil des Ministres du Lundi 19 octobre 2009" Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine , AGP, 19 October 2009 (in French).
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.