Gabon elects new president with junta chief frontrunner

GABON voted on Saturday to pick a president with junta chief Brice Oligui Nguema the firm favorite to become the oil-rich country’s first elected leader since his August 2023 coup.

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Nineteen months ago he ended more than five decades of Bongo dynastic rule widely viewed as corrupt, the 49-year-old soldier has pledged a “change of course” for himself against seven hopefuls.

Voters are expected to head to the polls after Alain Claude Bilie By Nze, the last prime minister under ousted leader Ali Bongo, widely considered Oligui’s most credible challenger.

The central African nation’s interior ministry has promised to release the results by April 2 at the latest.

Oligui, through a “truncated” campaign, has sought to shed his military strongman image, tapping into social media and holding rallies to cast himself as the ‘candidate of the people’.

To comply with the new electoral code, voters can announce the junta chief has even formally given up his general’s uniform to run for a seven-year term.