Keypoints:
- Sylvia and Noureddin Bongo charged with graft, forgery
- Family denounces proceedings as a ‘show trial’
- Civil groups call for justice and asset recovery
THE wife and son of former Gabonese president Ali Bongo Ondimba, along with eleven of their close associates, went on trial in Gabon on Monday on charges of treason, embezzlement and corruption, marking the first major case since the family’s decades-long rule ended in 2023.
Although the former president himself is not among the accused, his wife Sylvia and eldest son Noureddin are accused of exploiting the presidency’s power and resources for personal gain. The 12 charges they face include embezzlement of public funds, active corruption and forgery of official documents.
The proceedings, reported by Radio France Internationale (RFI), represent a significant test of Gabon’s post-coup leadership under transitional president Brice Clothaire Oligui Nguema, who seized power in an August 2023 coup that ended more than half a century of Bongo family rule.
‘Show trial’ allegations rejected
The Bongos have dismissed the proceedings as a politically motivated ‘show trial’. In an interview with Le Point last week, Noureddin Bongo insisted he had ‘never embezzled any money’.
Both Sylvia and Noureddin, who hold dual French-Gabonese citizenship, filed a complaint in a French court last year accusing Gabonese authorities of kidnapping and torturing them after the coup. The pair are not attending the hearings, having left Gabon for London in May with President Oligui Nguema’s permission, granted on condition they maintained a low profile.
Since arriving in the United Kingdom, however, the two have been increasingly outspoken, accusing Gabon’s new rulers of persecution and political vengeance.
Civil society demands accountability
In Libreville, civic groups expressed frustration over the Bongos’ absence from court.
‘We simply expect the guilty to pay,’ said Ghislain Ngui Nze, spokesperson for Les Citoyens Indignés (Indignant Citizens Collective). He criticised the former First Lady and her son for refusing to appear before Gabonese justice, saying they must ‘return to the Republic of Gabon to answer for their actions’.
Georges Mpaga, president of the Network of Free Organisations for Good Governance, said his organisation had joined the case as a civil party. He described the accused as ‘financial criminals who have destroyed the country, systematically violated human rights, and now refuse to be tried’.
Mpaga added that Gabon could use international cooperation frameworks under the United Nations Convention against Corruption to trace and recover assets allegedly embezzled by the Bongo network.
A test for Gabon’s transition
The trial comes as President Oligui Nguema’s transitional administration seeks to rebuild confidence in state institutions and distance itself from the legacy of corruption that defined the Bongo era.
For many Gabonese, the outcome of the case will signal whether the country’s judiciary can hold powerful figures to account—or whether the long shadow of dynastic politics still looms large over Libreville.
