The “statue of liberation” was inaugurated in Libreville, in the middle of a vast vacant lot under construction, during ceremonies marking the first anniversary of the coup d’état of August 30, 2023. Led by the head of the Republican Guard, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema and his men, the coup had made it possible to block the electoral strength of the outgoing president Ali Bongo Ondimba, who was propelled to power in 2009 after the death of his father Omar. This two-meter-high bronze, made in the purest Soviet realist style, imported in pieces from China, represents three men holding hands, looking towards better horizons and, indeed, towards the compound of the French military camp en Gaulle. There, placed on a pedestal, stands a civilian flanked by an officer and a soldier, with their Kalashnikovs at their feet.
“General Oligui refused to appear in one of the statues as he had been asked to do”explains a source who participated in the project launched in July. “Maybe he would have wanted the three faces to look like him”Our interlocutor jokes. Because, depending on the circumstances, Brice Oligui Nguema is one or the other of these characters. As commander-in-chief, he wears the maroon-red ceremonial uniform of the head of the Republican Guard and his chest is protected with as many decorations as those of a marshal of the Russian army. As a man of action, he also wears the camouflage commando uniform. Finally, the transitional president increasingly wears a well-tailored dark suit during his official visits abroad. In Paris, Beijing or Washington, where the putschist general forged his stature as head of state.
“With no experience in politics, he seems to be learning quickly and beginning his transformation into head of state, but he remains a soldier at heart”says a veteran of Gabonese politics. To confirm his assertion, our interlocutor recalls that at the centre of the personal Pantheon of Brigadier General Oligui – son of an officer – are General De Gaulle and another soldier: the Ghanaian Jerry John Rawlings, a charismatic and repeat coup-monger, often cited as an example of having democratically handed over power to civilians after, in any case, nineteen almost uninterrupted years in power.
“Call me Joshua”
Ghanaians have nicknamed their leader “Jesus Junior.” Brice Clotaire prefers another biblical reference, Joshua, who conquered the land of Canaan to settle the tribes of Israel there after the death of Moses. He explained this on the stage of a meeting in Libreville in mid-August: “Moses freed the people of Israel from captivity in Egypt, but he could not lead them to the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey. Call me Joshua.” The audience proclaimed this name in chorus. “The narrative is in place”deciphers a foreign observer. “ “Joshua Oligui” and his army liberated the people from the oppression exercised by Ali Bongo and his family. Accordingly, the President and the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions [CTRI, la junte militaire]They are there, above all, to protect these same people”add this source.
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