(1935-12-30)30 December 1935 Lewai, French Equatorial Africa (now Bongoville, Gabon)
Died
8 June 2009(2009-06-08) (aged 73) Barcelona, Spain
Political party
Democratic Party
Spouses
Louise Mouyabi Moukala
(m. 1957–1959)
Patience Dabany
(m. 1959; div. 1987)
[1]
Edith Lucie Sassou Nguesso
(m. 1989; died 2009)
Children
30+ (by various partners), including Ali Bongo
Military service
Allegiance
France
Gabon
Branch/service
French Air Force
Rank
Captain
This article is part of a series about
Omar Bongo
Early life
Family
Death and state funeral
Political offices
President of Gabon (1967–2009) Vice President of Gabon (1966–1967)
Presidency
Single-party rule
Francophile
Elections
Parliament
1980
1985
1990
1996
2001
2006
2008 local elections
1995 constitutional referendum
Related
Bongoville
Omar Bongo University
v
t
e
Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second president of Gabon for almost 42 years, 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 vice-president in his own right in 1966. In 1967, he succeeded M'ba to become the country's second president, upon the latter's death.
Bongo headed the single-party regime of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) until 1990, when, faced with public pressure, he was forced to introduce multi-party politics into Gabon. His political survival despite intense opposition to his rule in the early 1990s seemed to stem once again from consolidating power by bringing most of the major opposition leaders at the time to his side. The 1993 presidential election was extremely controversial but ended with his re-election then and the subsequent elections of 1998 and 2005. His respective parliamentary majorities increased and the opposition becoming more subdued with each succeeding election.[2] After Cuban leader Fidel Castro stepped down in February 2008, Bongo became the world's longest-ruling non-royal leader.[3] He was one of the longest serving non-royal rulers before his death.[4][5]
Bongo was criticized for in effect having worked for himself, his family and local elites and not for Gabon and its people. For instance, French green politician Eva Joly claimed that during Bongo's long reign, despite an oil-led GDP per capita growth to one of the highest levels in Africa, Gabon built only 5 km of freeway a year and still had one of the world's highest infant mortality rates by the time of his death in 2009.[6]
After Bongo's death in June 2009, his son Ali Bongo, who had long been assigned key ministerial responsibilities by his father, was elected to succeed him in August of that year.
^Gardinier, David E. (1997) "Gabon: Limited Reform and Regime Survival", in Political Reform in Francophone Africa, ed. John F. Clark and David E. Gardinier, Westview Press, ISBN 0813327865 p. 147
^"West Africa Newsletter N°632: 29 March 2012 "GABON: Bongo embraces regions; President Ali Bongo is swelling the ranks of Gabon's executive with politicians from beyond his family's traditional fiefdom in the south-east....."". 29 March 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
^"Bongo set to rise to senior world leader". Chicago Sun-Times. 19 February 2008. Archived from the original on 29 December 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
^Bongo, World's Longest-Serving President, Dies
^Gabon's Long-Serving President Dies
^"Bongo a "servi l'intérêt de la France" pas ses "citoyens" pour Eva Joly". AFP. 8 June 2009. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
OmarBongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second president of Gabon for almost...
Restoration of Institutions. Ali Bongo was born Alain-Bernard Bongo in Brazzaville, as the son of Albert-Bernard Bongo (later OmarBongo Ondimba) and Josephine...
capita income; however, large parts of the population are very poor. OmarBongo came to office in 1967 and created a dynasty, which stabilized its power...
Pascaline Mferri Bongo Ondimba (born 10 April 1956) is a Gabonese politician. Under her father, President OmarBongo, she was Minister of Foreign Affairs...
The Bongo family is a Gabonese family of Teke ethnicity. Two of its members (OmarBongo and Ali Bongo) were presidents of Gabon, ruling the country from...
Stade OmarBongo is a multi-purpose stadium in Libreville, Gabon. It is currently used mostly for football matches. It serves as the home ground of FC...
OmarBongo University (French: Université OmarBongo) is a public university which was founded as the National University of Gabon in 1970. It was renamed...
Bongo Ondimba (March 10, 1964 – March 14, 2009) was the First Lady of Gabon as the wife of President OmarBongo from 1989 to 2009. Édith Lucie Bongo Ondimba...
stronghold of the ruling Bongo family. Via his mother, he is a cousin of former President Ali Bongo and studied at OmarBongo University.[citation needed]...
1964. In March 1967, Leon M'Ba and OmarBongo were elected president and vice president. M'Ba died later that year. Bongo declared Gabon a one-party state...
The second President of Gabon, OmarBongo, died in Spain on June 8, 2009, after having suffered from colorectal cancer. A month of mourning and state funeral...
politician, member of civil society and associate professor of economics at OmarBongo University. In 1987, Albert Ondo Ossa passed the competitive examination...
the president in the Constitution of Gabon. This limit was lifted for OmarBongo in 2003. The election is won by the candidate who obtains the largest...
President El Hadj OmarBongo was a fast attack craft (FAC) in service with the Gabon Navy. The vessel was constructed in France and entered service in...
spread until the 1970s and 1980s. The conversion of Gabonese president OmarBongo to Islam helped to popularize the religion along with other notable Gabonese...
succeeded by OmarBongo. On 12 March 1968 the BDG was succeeded by the Gabonese Democratic Party, which became the sole legal party. The PDG and Bongo were re-elected...
In British English, BongoBongo Land (or Bongo-bongo Land) is a pejorative[citation needed] term used to refer to Third World countries, particularly in...
1967, Leon M'Ba and OmarBongo (then Albert Bongo) were elected president and vice president. M'Ba died later that year, and OmarBongo became president...
its independence from France in 1960, including 41 years under Bongo's father, Omar. Bongo was declared the winner on 30 August. A coup d'état began shortly...
in the capital city of Libreville, it was built in 1977 by President OmarBongo. It is the work of the Lebanese-Ivorian architect Pierre Fakhoury. The...
Josephine Bongo, is a Gabonese singer and musician. Dabany served as the First Lady of Gabon from 1967 to 1987. For 28 years, she was married to OmarBongo Ondimba...
September 1997, she moved to Libreville, Gabon, at the invitation of OmarBongo, and then Gbadolite in Zaire. Fearing the threat of the RPF, she went...
Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a minority in the south-east of Gabon. OmarBongo, who was President of Gabon in the late 20th century, was a Teke. As part...
Germain Mba [fr] by two mercenaries. 1973: Albert-Bernard Bongo converts to Islam and becomes OmarBongo. 1975: Gabon becomes a member of OPEC. 1976: construction...
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