Omar Bongo Omar Bongo, who has died aged 73, was the longest-serving president in African history, leading Gabon for 41 years and shamelessly looting the country's oil wealth.
2009-06-8
A diminutive, dapper figure, who conversed in flawless French and alternated between pomposity, courtesy and cruelty as required, Bongo treated Gabon as a self-obsessed landlord treats his private estate. He considered everything inside its borders to be his personal property and elevated corruption to a method of government.
Bongo amassed enough wealth to become one of the world's richest men. His great political achievement was to ensure that the revenues from Gabon's 2.5 billion barrels of oil reserves guaranteed his grip on power. He carefully allowed just enough oil money to trickle down to the general population of 1.4 million, thus avoiding any serious unrest. Meanwhile, he offered his domestic critics a bargain they could not refuse: drop your opposition in return for a modest but glittering slice of the nation's oil wealth. By this method, he bought off every opponent and became the most successful of all Africa's francophone tyrants, comfortably extending his political dominance into a fifth decade.
The largest share of the oil money was, of course, reserved for Bongo himself, his family and the aristocracy of his own Bateke tribe. Earlier this year, Transparency International began investigating him for embezzlement. Few were surprised when it emerged that Bongo owned 33 properties in Paris and Nice with a combined value exceeding 125 million pounds. The American authorities turned up 86 million pounds in accounts in New York.
These discoveries were probably only the tip of the iceberg: Bongo's fortune certainly ran into the hundreds of millions of dollars and may have reached the billions.
Some of the oil money was used for great public works – and slavish glorification of the leader became de rigueur. Thus Gabon acquired Bongo University, Bongo Airport, numerous Bongo Hospitals, Bongo Stadium and Bongo Gymnasium. The president's home town, Lewai, was inevitably renamed Bongoville.
Occasionally, Bongo would boast of his great benevolence. One American ambassador was summoned to the presidential palace in the capital, Libreville, to hear the president proclaim that he intended to make a multi-million dollar donation to charity. "And will this sum come from your personal funds or from state funds?" asked the diplomat. Bongo was genuinely bewildered by this question. The two men quickly agreed that such fine distinctions were meaningless in Gabon.
Omar Albert Bernard Bongo was born on 30 Dec 1935 in the town of Lewai near Gabon's eastern border, into one of France's smallest and most placid African colonies. The youngest of 12 children, he was an intelligent and ambitious young man and chose the only career open to young blacks under French rule: a junior clerical job in the colonial administration followed by a place in the armed forces. Bongo was a lieutenant in the air force when Gabon won independence in 1960.
He was fortunate to receive the patronage of the country's first president, Leon M'Ba, who gave him a series of junior cabinet posts. In 1966, M'Ba promoted Bongo to become vice-president, probably judging that the young man, who was barely 30, posed no political threat. But M'Ba became gravely ill and died the following year, allowing Bongo to succeed him as president on 2 Dec 1967 at the age of only 31.
This was an era when France made no effort to disguise its direct influence in former colonies and, by the same token, African leaders did not pretend to conform to democratic norms.
Bongo, an ardent Francophile, was happy to strike a favourable bargain with the old colonial power. He gave the French oil company, Elf-Aquitaine, privileged rights to exploit Gabon's oil reserves while Paris returned the favour by guaranteeing the young president's grip on power for the indefinite future.
France kept its military bases in the country and a contingent of paratroopers underwrote Bongo's rule. The president trusted no-one but the French and his own family. Bongo duly made his son, Ali-Ben, defence minister and his daughter, Pascaline, foreign minister and then chef de cabinet.
He spent as much time as he could in Paris, revelling in his friendship with a succession of French presidents, particularly Valery Giscard d'Estaing and Jacques Chirac.
Bongo behaved like an ageing sybarite during these long sojourns. An Italian fashion designer has testified that he kept Bongo supplied with prostitutes. When an international beauty contest was held in Libreville, Bongo took a shine to Miss Peru, who found herself ushered into the presidential bedroom. The terrified young woman managed to flee.
When the Cold War ended, the old bargain between Bongo and Paris required modest adaptation. The president legalised opposition parties in 1993 and allowed a series of supposedly fair elections. In fact, all his opponents had been bribed and suborned.
According to Gabon's prime minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong, Omar Bongo, who converted to Islam in 1973, died in hospital in Barcelona yesterday afternoon. Ndong's statement came after furious official denials of Bongo's demise, which was initially reported on Sunday. As late as yesterday morning, Ndong was insisting that Bongo was "alive and well".
Bongo left a divorced wife, Patience, two daughters and a son. Another wife, Edith Lucie, predeceased him.
【重要人物】 哈吉·奧馬爾·邦戈·翁丁巴：總統。1935年12月30日生於加蓬上奧果韋省弗朗斯維爾附近的萊科尼縣。巴太凱族。1958年畢業於布拉柴維爾市技術學校貿易專業。同年入法國空軍服役。加蓬獨立後入外交部任職。1962年3-10月任總統辦公室副主任、主任。1963年2 月-1964年4月負責新聞和旅遊部工作。此後負責國防工作。1965年9 月-1966年11月先後任總統府負責國防的部長級代表和新聞部長。1967年11月任政府副主席。1967年3 月當選爲共和國副總統，11月繼任總統，1973年2月正式當選總統。1979年、1986年、1993年、1998年和2005年連任。1968年創建加蓬民主黨，任總書記，1986年改任主席，1990年辭去主席職務。1974-2008年間11次訪華。已婚，多子女。
“綠金之國”邦戈總統之死
文/和靜鈞， 載於《世界知識》
6月8日，加蓬總統邦戈在西班牙一醫院因突發心臟病去逝，終年73歲。
邦戈是非洲執政時間最長的國家元首之一，在位41年。他也是除君主外在位最長的國家元首。這一方面得益于本國憲法去除了元首任職年齡限制，而且更重要的是，可以連選連任，不受次數的限制。
在非洲，能連選連任的國家真還不少。津巴布韋的穆加貝發誓總統當到100歲，而烏干達的穆塞維尼總統也已經連任幾屆了。尼日利亞曾有個修憲努力，想改回可以連選連任不受次數限制，但卻沒有成功。
世上恐怕只有韓國才規定總統只能任一屆。在邦戈去逝之前，韓國前總統不堪受現政府支持的反腐調查，從家背後的懸崖上縱身一跳，結束了“平民總統”的生命。
邦戈之“異數”，在於能在多黨選舉體制的政黨競爭環境下，加上其少數民族背景，能坐穩江山這麽久。在鄰國紛紛內亂不止時，加蓬卻政通人和，和平持續四十載。除去邦戈之前的老總統在位時遭遇一次突發軍事政變後，非洲經常上演的非憲法政權更叠在加蓬幾乎沒有聽聞。
加蓬在黑非洲中屬富國行列，在法語區非洲國家裏，是個唯一進入“中等發達國家”名單的國家。加蓬資源豐富，遍地流金，森林覆蓋率超過70%，被譽爲“綠金之國”。
邦戈個子不高，蓄著優雅小鬍子，總是面帶微笑。他富於謀略，強調民族團結和國家統一，重視發展民族經濟和改善人民生活。非洲國家擺脫殖民統治後湧現的一批“政治強人”中，唯他執政最久。由於在政治和經濟方面的顯著成就，邦戈被加蓬人民稱爲“革新之父”。
邦戈的成就，還在於他很適當地處理與加蓬與前殖民宗主國法國的關係。邦戈有一句流傳甚廣的名言：“沒有法國的非洲，就像汽車沒有司機，沒有非洲的法國，則是沒有燃料的汽車。”
加蓬與法國的關係怎麽樣，從邦戈葬禮上法國代表團的規模就可以看出。法國總統薩科奇、前總統希拉克、法國外交部長庫什內等一幫高級官員飛抵加蓬首都利伯維爾，向邦戈敬獻花圈。
邦戈是“Francafrique”（即“法非特殊關係”之意）在黑非洲的代表人物，戴高樂時代法國接受了前殖民國家的獨立，但在實質關係上，法國維持了與非洲很多殖民地的“特殊關係”。加蓬就是其中之一。
儘管薩科奇的到來，有掌聲，也有噓聲，也有叫駡聲，但薩科奇說：“邦戈是非洲的重要人物，也是法國偉大而忠實的朋友。” 從夏爾·戴高樂到弗朗索瓦·密特朗，從雅克·希拉克到尼古拉·薩科齊，歷任法國總統均把他視爲中西部非洲乃至整個非洲最親密盟友。
法國著名記者格拉澤說：“他幫助法國在非洲深化影響力，加蓬首都利伯維爾就是法國在非洲的總部。”
然而，這樣一個“親密盟友”，臨死前看病就醫，卻沒有選擇法國的醫院，卻去了西班牙，而且據傳是一家私人診所。
從這一點上看，邦戈連阿拉法特的“待遇”都得不到，阿拉法特在法國一著名軍醫院中接受治療，雖最後不治而亡，但法國的醫術卻被世界公認一流的。
最可氣的是法國媒體。在邦戈去逝前一天，法國媒體就登出消息，宣佈邦戈死亡。有人說，法國媒體如此“消息靈通”，背後肯定有法國政府在暗中搞鬼。
最後，邦戈因癌症入院，卻在6月9日突發心臟病而死，莫不是被法國氣死的？
據傳，薩科奇上臺之後，法國在黑非洲的影響日見低迷。一些傳統的盟友紛紛掉頭，轉而向國際上擁有更大影響力的國家，如美國和中國。
而法國國內特殊的政治氣候也促使昔日盟友決定與法國保持距離。據傳，法國一法院法官一直在調查邦戈家族在法國的房産和銀行存款。這位法官司稱：“天贈加蓬豐富的石油，但加蓬百姓沒有享受到，是法國享受到了。法國欠邦戈很多！”
一個加蓬居民對法新社記者說：“你們法國人，到這裏來是爲了吃掉加蓬。所有來到官邸的總統們離開時口袋都是滿滿的，你們隨後還批評我們。”
在這加蓬“權力真空”非常時期和“法國因素”式微的敏感時刻，法國會扮演什麽樣的角色？
薩科奇稱：“法國沒有候選人，它不支援任何一位候選人。加蓬人必須選擇他們想要的人選，法國將與加蓬人選擇的總統共事。”
沒有人會相信薩科齊的話，甚至法國人自己都不相信。法國《觀點》雜誌寫道：“父親去世，兒子將登場。愛麗舍宮已示支援。” 邦戈的兒子、國防部長阿里-邦戈被廣泛地認爲是接班人人選。阿里-邦戈已多次和代總統、參議長羅絲-芙朗辛-羅貢貝一起出現在電視上。
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