Omar Bongo (30 December 1935-8 June 2009) was President of Gabon from 2 December 1967 to 8 June 2009, succeeding Leon M'ba and preceding Rose Francine Rogombe. Bongo was appointed the new leader of Gabon with backing from France, and he ruled Gabon as its dictator for 42 years; his son Ali Bongo Ondimba took over the country not long after his death.
Biography[]
Albert-Bernard Bongo was born in Lewai, French Equatorial Africa (now Bongoville, Gabon) on 30 December 1935 to a Catholic Teke family. He served in the French Army before becoming a civil servant under Leon M'ba's government, and he became Vice-President in 1966 after previously serving as Minister of Information and Tourism. In 1967, with the backing of France, Bongo succeeded M'ba after he died of cancer, and he made his conservative Gabonese Democratic Party the only legal party in Gabon in 1968. In 1973, Bongo converted to Islam and changed his name from "Albert-Bernard Bongo" to "Al-Hajj Omar Bongo Ondimba". Bongo was a close ally of France, and he once said, "Gabon without France is like a car without a driver; France without Gabon is like a car without fuel." Gabon supplied uranium, oil, and other natural resources to the French, and it was Gabonese uranium that assisted the French in testing nuclear bombs in the Algerian desert in 1960. In 1981, he bankrolled Jacques Chirac's presidential campaign in France, and he remained a steadfast ally of France until the end. Bongo ruled Gabon as its unopposed dictator until 1990, when he was forced to implement multi-party rule after strikes, riots, and unrest. Bongo remained president until his death in 2009, using fradulent elections to maintain power. His own son Ali Bongo Ondimba succeeded him on his death.