Ali Bongo Ondimba

Ali Bongo Ondimba (born Alain-Bernard Bongo; 9 February 1959), also known as Ali Bongo and Ali Ben Bongo, is a Gabonese former politician who was the third president of Gabon from 2009 to 2023. He is a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party. He is the son of Omar Bongo, who was president of Gabon from 1967 until his death in 2009. During his father's presidency, he was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1991, represented Bongoville as a deputy in the National Assembly from 1991 to 1999, and was the Minister of Defense from 1999 to 2009. After his father's death, he won the 2009 Gabonese presidential election. He was reelected in 2016, in elections marred by numerous irregularities, arrests, human rights violations, and post-election protests and violence. On 30 August 2023, following the results of the Gabonese general election, the military ousted him from the presidency in a coup d'état due to lack of transparency in the election process and established a junta called the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions. Early life and career Birth Ali Bongo was born Alain-Bernard Bongo in Brazzaville, as the son of Albert-Bernard Bongo (later Omar Bongo Ondimba) and Josephine Kama (later Patience Dabany). His mother was 18 years old at the time of his birth. He was conceived 18 months before their marriage and there have been rumors of his being Bongo's adopted son, a claim that he dismisses. Alain-Bernard changed his name to Ali when he and his father converted to Islam in 1973 and, in 2003, they both adopted the Obamba patronymic "Ondimba" in memory of Omar's father, Basile Ondimba.