Gabon’s government is 24-hours away from a facelift

The highly anticipated poll, slated for Saturday, April 12, 2025, is a watershed event in the oil-rich Central African country’s transition to democratic rule.

The election comes nearly two years after General Brice Oligui Nguema led a military revolution that ended the Bongo family’s 56-year hold on power.

The junta’s rapid ouster of Bongo drew popular support from residents tired of dynastic rule and claims of corruption and stagnation.

Polling booths will open at 7 a.m. local time and end at 6 p.m., with the results anticipated on Sunday.

The polls are likely to draw about 900,000 registered Gabonese voters and 28,000 from outside, as seen on Reuters.

The winner will spend a seven-year term that is renewable once, according to the rules of a new constitution approved in November 2024, which also opened the way for Nguema’s candidacy.

Analysts believe Nguema is the clear frontrunner in this race, largely due to his visibility during the campaign and a perception that his rule brought a sense of national renewal following the ouster of the Bongo regime. His platform has emphasized continuity, stability, and reform, as well as promises of good governance and improved living standards.

Challenging Nguema is Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze, a former prime minister under Ali Bongo.

Now running under the movement “Together for Gabon,” Bilie-By-Nze has attempted to distance himself from the Bongo legacy, framing his candidacy as a break from the past and a fresh start for the country.

Despite the likely one-sided nature of the election, its symbolic significance cannot be overstated.

For the first time in years, Gabonese citizens will cast ballots in a presidential election not dominated by the Bongo dynasty. The process also serves as a litmus test for the sincerity of Nguema’s promises and Gabon’s readiness to embrace democratic norms.

Suppose the election is conducted freely and fairly, with transparent results and a peaceful transition. In that case, Gabon will have achieved a rare feat: a coup-led government making good on its promise to return power to the people.

It could also set a precedent for other countries in the region grappling with the tensions between authoritarianism and democracy.

As Gabon prepares to head to the polls, the world will watch closely. For its people, Saturday could mark the beginning of a new chapter—one where the will of the people, not the will of a dynasty or a junta, shapes the future of their nation.

Ali Bongo Ondimba, 64, had been in power since 2009, succeeding his father, who had been in power for more than 40 years.

However, on August 30, 2023, just minutes after the state electoral body certified that President Ali Bongo had won a third term, a group of prominent Gabonese military leaders appeared on national television and declared that they had taken power, disbanding state institutions like the Senate, National Assembly, and Constitutional Court, and placing Bongo under home arrest.

For many years, the Bongo family and a small political elite lived in luxury funded by oil, while the majority lived in poverty.