General Brice Oligui Nguema, Coup Leader to Elected President
On April 12, 2025, General Brice Oligui Nguema casts his vote in the Gabon election in the nation’s capital city Libreville. (Photo: Al Jazeera)
On April 12, 2025, Gabon held its presidential election. As of Monday April 14, it has become clear that General Brice Oligui Nguema is set to become the newly elected President of Gabon having won over 90 percent of votes. The official results will be announced in the coming days. With this election, General Nguema is set to govern Gabon for the next seven years.
The general, age 50, is a high-ranking military officer who on Aug. 30, 2023, led a military coup to oust the previously sitting President Ali Bongo. The coup ousted the President, whose family had held power for 56 years in Gabon, and was condemned by the UN, the African Union, and France. That being said, the coup was peaceful, and met with almost no resistance. The overthrow of the Bongo family rule by general Nguema was viewed favorably by most of the population, and his role in overthrowing the Bongo family is ultimately what helped propel him to this win. In speaking with Sylvie Nguia, an accountant in the capital of Gabon, the New York Times quotes “The guy [General Nguema] overthrew a system that everyone wanted to bring down, and for that alone, the vast majority had to support him”. Since the coup, he has served as interim president.
Following the coup, General Nguema strategically built support in government, and was praised for freeing political detainees (excluding former President Ali Bongo’s wife and son), nationalising foreign-owned oil assets, cultivating international goodwill, and fast-tracking public development projects.
Regionally, General Nguema is the second leader to have won an election years after ousting a previous leader. After gaining power, Nguema had promised to relinquish power after releasing Gabon from the control of the Bongo family. However, under his own administration a series of rules were passed to allow military officers to run in elections (previously banned), and Nguema, despite the promise to step down, ran for president. Ran, and won.
General Nguema at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly as Gabon’s interim President on September 26, 2024. (Photo:AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Despite the nation’s seemingly clear desire for his presidency, some question the elections. While observers deemed the election fair, others had complaints. Nguema ran on the platform of ending the rampant corruption and adding variation to the oil-reliant economy. However, some argue that he himself is part of the corruption history in Gabon. Notably, his largest opponent Mr. Bilie-By-Nze cited the fact that due to the suspension of political parties, each candidate had to run independently. Thus, while most candidates only had access to personal funds, Nguema as interim president was able to use state funds. Criticizing this, the New York Times cites Mr. Bilie-By-Nze saying “fairness was undermined by the imbalances of resources – with one candidate campaigning at the taxpayers’ expense while others had to rely on their personal means”. Despite being his most prominent opponent, Mr. Bilie-By-Nze won only about 3 percent of the vote. Some also question Nguema’s holdings of three properties in the US, purchased with over $1 million in cash. In response, Nguema asked that his private life be kept private.
Nonetheless, many see a bright future with General Nguema. After the 2023 coup Nguema demanded heads of public agencies to return stolen money, and arrested corporate executives after finding them guilty of corruption.
Furthermore, the promise to diversify the oil-dependent economy of Gabon is important as it is responsible for 38% of the nation’s GDP. Furthermore, diversifying the economy leading to more jobs in more sectors, especially for youth, is a priority as 40% of young people in Gabon are unemployed. Balancing the conservation of the rainforest, which covers Gabon, with the needs of rural communities and maintaining a standing reputation for conservationism, while dealing with calls to use natural resources such as minerals and oil, will be a coming debate for General Nguema. But Nguema seems to be willing to take this in stride. Under his rule in 2024, the economy of Gabon expanded by 2.9 percent, 0.5 percent more than the year before, likely thanks to the diversification of the economy through development of oil, timber, and manganese infrastructure. This itself gives Ngueme credibility in the area.
While there remains much to address, continuing the work is something the General seems ready to take on. In an interview with Al Jazeera after his election win, Nguema vowed “I will give back to the people what they have given me today. And everything that has been stolen from the people, I want to return to them.”