“Energy, I have plenty of it!” Ali Bongo explained this to the pan-African weekly Jeune Afrique. The Gabonese president broke a very long silence that he had observed since his stroke in October 2018, and it was for Jeune Afrique that he chose to speak for the first time.
The interview is very long, four pages. Ali Bongo talks about everything including his health. “I feel good. I even increased my pace at work. I can not wait to be 100% of my ability again,” he replied.
ON his opponent wondering Regarding his ability to lead Gabon, Ali Bongo replied: “I would rather recommend them to work on formulating ideas. To be happy with criticizing and arguing is to get completely lost ”.
For Ali Bongo, his son is “extremely competent”
It also comes back to his son Noureddin Bongo Valentin whose appointment in December 2019 to the post of General Coordinator for Presidential Affairs had caused controversy. Ali Bongo is sharp: “Noureddin, whom I obviously have full confidence in, is extremely competent. He helps me daily, ensures that my directives are properly implemented and ensures that they are followed up ”.
Accused of having been avoided by France since coming to power in 2009, Ali Bongo admits that relations have not always been very fluid during François Hollande’s term. But with Macron, “we share, he says, the same desire to have bilateral relations nurtured, persecuted and, I would say, modernized.”
