Gabon: Bye Bye Bongo; And What Next?

Most African countries lived under colonial rule for longer than they have been independent. Gabon is one of them; like most French "colonies", it had its independence in 1960. This means that of some 49 years of independence, Bongo was on stage as president for 42 years (1967-2009) before his recent demise! How clearly did he see the future of Gabon? How clearly will the person who succeeds him see it?

By Tazoacha Asonganyi

Political action is always divided into three broad periods that follow one another in harmonic motion, barring the discord they may usually generate. These periods are usually described as "lived experience", "reflection" on lived experience, and "conception of strategies and tactics” for new action that succeeds the old. Such "new" action constitutes the first stage of the next political "period". Each period may last for various lengths of time.

Countries like the United States of America that lived under colonial rule like us applied this formula well in laying down the ground rules for the functioning of their country following independence. Their first lived experience was governance under colonialism. Their reflection on this lived experience gave birth to the war of independence, and the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. Following these, they lived under a mixed republican constitution for some 10 years. Each state did its best to govern itself, but they all experienced the same difficulty: their own people that gained power after the colonialists were thrown out were showing themselves as capricious as the colonialists that held power before them; like all human beings, they showed self-interest and fell prey to their passions and demagogy.

The lived experience during these first years of independence under their own self-chosen "leaders" therefore led to a new period of reflection that resulted in the realisation that there had to be a radical change in perspective. This led to the replacement of the republican constitution by a system of checks and balances among the three branches of government that ensured that no branch totally represented the true nature of the sovereign people. This is the spirit of the constitution that was produced in Philadelphia in 1787. The adopted constitution is the one which is still in force in the USA today and is the bulwark of the country that "...enjoys a position of unparalleled military strength and great economic and political influence... "

The Americans succeeded because their governance allowed continuous reflection on their lived experiences which they used to forge a "common will" among their people that were totally immersed in the lived experiences. They based all political action in their society on the individual citizen, since it is the will of individual citizens that forms the collective will of "the people" for whom society is organised and governed. The forging of the collective will was facilitated by a liberal/democratic culture that made "politics" the hinge that connected the individual citizens to power.

The power relationship in such a society of free, active individuals is symmetrical, since such power emanates from each of the individuals in society. It is therefore important that in creating a democratic society best suited for the promotion of human endeavour and welfare, the ever-present temptation to disrupt this symmetrical source of power by using ordinances, laws, decrees and other instruments to unify differences by eliminating divisions within the politics of society, be avoided. Unfortunately, this is the trap in which Gabon and other African countries were caught!

Unlike the Americans after their independence, Gabon, like many African countries, went ahead and instituted asymmetrical power relations in society. The power of society to forge a common will and to define the structures through which power would be exercised was confiscated; equal opportunity was denied; the power to set the terms of power was monopolized; indeed, one-party rule was instituted in an attempt to overcome opposition between the democratic individual and the community of which he or she is a member. In other words, the public space in which individual members of society were supposed to reflect on what their society was and what they wanted it to be was removed!

With the pressure for independence mounted by valiant African nationalists and patriots, the colonialists reflected on their lived experience as colonising forces and came up with new strategies and tactics known today as "neo-colonialism" ; power could be handed over in the colonies and controlled from the metropolis! The Leon Mbas, Bongos, Ahidjos and others were recruited to accompany this new colonial strategy by adopting constitutionalism as the formula for "democracy", while ensuring that the constitutions were nothing more than decreed rules and procedures to regulate the affairs of those who were in power, at the detriment of the people; in addition, they instituted one-party rule and signed ordinances to silence the people!

The Bongos therefore opted to exercise power that was not derived from an empowered people; they opted for power derived from invisible, neo-colonial forces whose interests were and are at variance with the interests of "the people". Interestingly, although this "new" set-up was imposed from outside, it was nevertheless not imposed on a unanimously resistant people; it was supported from within enthusiastically by their leaders – the Bongos, Ahidjos and others; and passively by most of the people, with each trying to make the best of this card history had dealt them.

The result? Forty seven years of poverty in the midst of abundance; helplessness in spite of opportunity; indifference in the face of provocation; spectators in a fast changing world! Now, Bongo is gone; what next for Gabon? Will Bongo’s successor pick up his legacy and engage in "continuity" (like Ahidjo’s did), as if nothing is wrong? Will the successor allow the creation of the public space in which Gabonese can freely reflect on their 49-year lived experience, to conceive strategies and tactics for new action in a new Gabon that is truly at the service of "the people"? The future of Gabon, and indeed that of countries like Cameroon depends on answers to such questions.