Gabon: Why have Sylvia and Noureddine Bongo still not been tried?

In Gabon, the mystery continues around the lack of trial for Sylvia and Noureddine Bongo, wife and son of Ali, the deposed President. All eyes are on President Oligui's brothers, Aurélien and Pierre, accused of having embezzled the Bongo fortune for their own benefit, thus preventing any convincing evidence of the Bongos' corruption.

Behind the disturbing accusations and disappearances

Since the fall of Ali Bongo Ondimba in Gabon, one question has been nagging observers: why have Sylvia and Noureddine Bongo, who were at the heart of the system, not yet been brought to justice? For many, the lack of a trial for the two controversial figures is due to a more complex impasse than expected, where entrenched interests are blurring the lines. Indeed, the brother of the current interim president Brice Oligui Nguema, Pierre Bibang Bi Nguema, is, according to some sources, a key player in the disappearance of certain crucial pieces of evidence, as is the President's other brother, Aurélien Nguema, former budget director. It's as if in Gabon, a thief can also be robbed...

A Well-Orchestrated Clean-Up? When Bibang Bi Nguema Gets Involved in the Affair

From the first hours of Ali Bongo's overthrow, the new authorities, under the leadership of Brice Oligui Nguema, promised to wipe the slate clean of past practices and restore probity at the top of the state. However, events turned out to be much less simple. Pierre Bibang Bi Nguema, Brice's brother and a heavyweight in the security apparatus, is said to have played a decisive role in the searches and interrogations orchestrated by the General Directorate of Special Services (DGSS). But his role did not stop there...

Bibang, with a pronounced taste for the exotic and discretion, is said to have multiplied his trips to Dubai to "recover" certain financial accounts presumed to belong to the Bongos. A small personal excursion that would have opened locked doors in banking secrecy, but which would also have generated astonishing "omissions" in the investigation reports. Moreover, murmurs are rife in Gabon: "Have you heard that the two brothers stole evidence in the Sylviane and Noureddine case?" And what if the simple fact that Sylvia and Noureddine are still without trial revealed, in fact, much more greedy hands in the state treasury?

When money and power tip the scales of justice

By removing Pierre Bibang Bi Nguema from the system, Brice Oligui Nguema is said to have sought to clean up his own camp after his brother apparently overstepped his role by taking a share of the jackpot. He was thus ousted from his military duties on 18 June. But could Brice Oligui have been unaware of what was going on? Behind the scenes, suspicions are flying: these little detours into the Bongo treasury would not have been possible without the blessing of an ally in high places, the brother of the alleged culprit and self-proclaimed President of a never-ending transition.

The Sylvia and Noureddine case is therefore at an impasse. Their foreign accounts, supposed to serve as proof of illicit enrichment, are now under the control of a faction that, curiously, is slow to organize a trial. The Nguema brothers find themselves in a delicate situation: how to judge those who are the key to their own secrets? While the new authorities hoped to turn the page on Bongo, it seems that the wheel of fortune has turned much more quickly than expected, making the so-called cleaners appear as actors in the same system that they criticized.

Did Ali Bongo step down for this?

Added to this is the recent announcement by Ali Bongo himself, deciding to retire definitively from political life. Ali, who had called for calm and respect for the transition at the time of his ouster, seems, by choosing internal exile, to want to leave the new leaders to face their contradictions. The message is clear: if the new leaders do not put their own house in order, the specter of the past will soon catch up with them.

In short, Gabon is experiencing a real judicial and political saga in which each actor has his share of responsibility. Because in this saga, the thief was robbed, leaving a landscape where it is difficult to distinguish the guilty from the victims.