The president of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, knew well the threat of military coups in his part of the world. But he swore one wouldn’t happen to him.
“While our continent has been shaken in recent weeks by violent crises, rest assured that I will never allow you and our country Gabon to be hostages to attempts at destabilization. Never,” Bongo declared this month as the central African nation marked 60 years of independence from France, almost all of that time with his family in power.
