Jean-Boniface Assélé
Encyclopedia
Jean-Boniface Assélé is a Gabon
ese politician and the President of the Circle of Liberal Reformers (CLR). He served in the government of Gabon from 1975 to 1990 and again from 2004 to 2009. He was also Commander-in-Chief of the National Police Forces from 1970 to 1989 and held the rank of General. Since September 2009, Assélé has been the Fourth Vice-President of the Senate of Gabon
.
. From 1970 to 1989, he was Commander-in-Chief of the National Police Forces; also during that period, he served as High Commissioner at the Presidency from 1974 to 1975 and was appointed as Secretary of State for Information in 1975. He was then appointed as Minister of National Education later in 1975, and he was retained in the government as Minister of National Education, Youth, Sports and Leisure on 13 July 1977. In 1980 he was moved to the position of Minister of Public Works. At the Third Extraordinary Congress of the Gabonese Democratic Party
(PDG) in early March 1983, Assélé was elected to the PDG Central Committee.
For years, Assélé was a brother-in-law of President Omar Bongo
as the brother of Bongo's wife Joséphine Kama
. He is said to have used his position as head of police to keep watch on his sister and report her "indiscretions" to Bongo. Bongo and Joséphine divorced in 1988. Although Assélé was considered a "long-time and trusted ally" of Bongo, Léon Ossiali was appointed to replace him as Commander-in-Chief of the National Police Forces on 12 January 1989. His removal from that key position was interpreted by some observers as a consequence of Bongo's divorce; another explanation attributed it to a leaflet campaign by the exiled opposition group MORENA
, which had smuggled the leaflets into Gabon. Despite being removed from his police command, Assélé remained in his post as Minister of Public Works at that time. After ten years as Minister of Public Works, he was instead appointed as Minister of Water and Forests in February 1990, but he only held that position until April 1990, when he was dismissed from the government.
in the 1990 parliamentary election
. Together with other members of the PDG, Assélé split from the ruling party in late 1992 and formed the Circle of Liberal Reformers; as a result, he and two others were expelled from the PDG in December 1992. He and the CLR nevertheless allied with the PDG and supported Bongo's candidacy in the December 1993 presidential election
. Assélé remained in the National Assembly until the end of the parliamentary term in 1996, and he was re-elected to the National Assembly in the December 1996 parliamentary election, winning the second seat from the Third Arrondissement of Libreville
.
In the National Assembly, Assélé was President of the Center of Democrats (CDD) Parliamentary Group, and subsequently he was President of the Group of Republican Democrats (GDR) Parliamentary Group. He was also the Mayor of the Third Arrondissement of Libreville.
In 2005, after Zacharie Myboto
criticized Bongo in his book J'accuse, Assélé published Incroyable!, a book written in response to J'accuse, criticizing Myboto. Assélé backed Bongo in the November 2005 presidential election
and participated in his campaign team as President of the Security Commission. Following Bongo's re-election, Assélé was moved to the post of Minister of the Civil Service, Administrative Reform, and the Modernization of the State on 21 January 2006.
In the December 2006 parliamentary election
, Assélé ran for re-election to the second seat from the Third Arrondissement; he was initially declared the winner, but the opposition Union of the Gabonese People
(UPG) protested that. On 27 December 2006, the Constitutional Court invalidated Assélé's victory and declared UPG candidate Bernadette Bourobou Koumba the winner with 41.85% of the vote; the results from some polling stations were invalidated because of fraud. Assélé had been continuously elected to that seat since 1990, and his defeat there, in what was considered his stronghold, was viewed as a possible sign of the CLR's declining fortunes. After the Constitutional Court declared Koumba the winner, Assélé called on his supporters to remain calm and refrain from violence or disorder, stressing that Gabon was a state of law; he said that he would appeal to the Constitutional Court for the annulment of the results in his constituency due to irregularities. Following a partial election re-run in June 2007, Assélé expressed anger towards other parties of the Presidential Majority, believing that they were not treating the CLR properly, and he threatened to leave the Presidential Majority. His ministerial portfolio was modified on 28 December 2007, when he was appointed as Minister of the Civil Service and the Modernization of the State.
Assélé was instead appointed as Minister of Communication, Posts, Telecommunications, and New Information Technologies on 4 February 2008, taking office on 7 February. He represented Gabon at a summit of the Economic Community of Central African States
(ECCAS) in Kinshasa
on 10 March 2008. He was subsequently moved to the position of Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation on 7 October 2008.
On 25 March 2008, Assélé announced his candidacy for the position of Mayor of Libreville as part of the April 2008 local election
. In that election, he headed the CLR's candidate list in the Third Arrondissement. After the election, the opposition challenged the results in the Third Arrondissement, but its appeal was rejected by the Constitutional Court.
on 16 February 2009. Assélé was not present for the election of members of the Bureau of the Senate. Because the CLR leadership had already agreed that Assélé would not accept any post in the Bureau of the Senate below that of Third Vice-President, Assélé sent a letter to Senate President Rose Francine Rogombé
on 17 February, notifying her that he declined the post of the Fourth Vice-President.
After more than 41 years in power, Omar Bongo died on 8 June 2009. Assélé then urged the parties of the Presidential Majority to unite behind a single candidate for the August 2009 presidential election
. The PDG selected Ali Bongo as its candidate; as Ali was a son of Omar Bongo and Joséphine Kama, Assélé was his maternal uncle. Unlike many other leaders of Presidential Majority, who defected to run their own candidacies or back opposition candidates, Assélé strongly supported Bongo. When the PDG officially launched its campaign in mid-August 2009, Assélé was present for the occasion and declared that the PDG's "true friends" were there, suggesting that false friends were exposed by their absence. At a rally for Bongo in the Third Arrondissement on 27 August, he denounced André Mba Obame
, who had left the PDG to run as an independent candidate.
The Senate held another vote for the position of Fourth Vice-President on 15 September 2009, and Assélé was again elected to the post, receiving 80% of the vote. Assélé accepted the post on that occasion, despite his refusal earlier in the year.
Bongo won the presidential election with about 42% of the vote, according to official results, but the opposition alleged fraud and appealed to the Constitutional Court in September 2009. One of the minor opposition candidates, Luc Bengone Nsi of MORENA
, filed an appeal based on an accusation that Ali Bongo was an adoptive rather than natural son of Omar Bongo and that he was a Nigeria
n by birth; because Bongo was born outside of Gabon (in Brazzaville
), he would be ineligible for the Presidency if he were not born to Gabonese parents. On 18 September, Assélé reacted furiously to Bengone Nsi's claim and announced plans to sue him over the matter—"To say ... that my nephew is of Nigerian origin is pure defamation"—while vouching for the accuracy of the official version of Bongo's birth: "I affirm that Mr. Ali Bongo Ondimba was born in Brazzaville to father Albert-Bernard Bongo and mother Kama Joséphine in 1959."
In early 2010, the CLR under Assélé's leadership was one of the only significant parties to remain allied with the PDG as part of the Presidential Majority. He led a delegation of political parties supporting President Bongo at a meeting with the latter on 15 December 2010 to discuss the forthcoming parliamentary election and other matters.
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
ese politician and the President of the Circle of Liberal Reformers (CLR). He served in the government of Gabon from 1975 to 1990 and again from 2004 to 2009. He was also Commander-in-Chief of the National Police Forces from 1970 to 1989 and held the rank of General. Since September 2009, Assélé has been the Fourth Vice-President of the Senate of Gabon
Senate of Gabon
The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of Gabon. It has 102 members, elected for a six year term in single-seat constituencies by local and départemental councillors...
.
Police command and government service during single-party rule
Assélé was born in AkiéniAkiéni
Akiéni is a small town in Lekoni-Lekori Department in Haut-Ogooue in north-eastern Gabon near the border with the Republic of the Congo.-External links:*...
. From 1970 to 1989, he was Commander-in-Chief of the National Police Forces; also during that period, he served as High Commissioner at the Presidency from 1974 to 1975 and was appointed as Secretary of State for Information in 1975. He was then appointed as Minister of National Education later in 1975, and he was retained in the government as Minister of National Education, Youth, Sports and Leisure on 13 July 1977. In 1980 he was moved to the position of Minister of Public Works. At the Third Extraordinary Congress of the Gabonese Democratic Party
Gabonese Democratic Party
The Gabonese Democratic Party , is the ruling and dominant political party of Gabon. Its motto is Dialogue, Tolerance, Peace.It has held power since independence, first under Léon M'ba , then under Omar Bongo...
(PDG) in early March 1983, Assélé was elected to the PDG Central Committee.
For years, Assélé was a brother-in-law of President Omar Bongo
Omar Bongo
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba , born as Albert-Bernard Bongo, was a Gabonese politician who was President of Gabon for 42 years from 1967 until his death in office in 2009....
as the brother of Bongo's wife Joséphine Kama
Patience Dabany
Patience Marie Josephine Kama Dabany , also known by the names Marie Joséphine Kama and Josephine Bongo, is a Gabonese singer and musician. For nearly 30 years she was married to Omar Bongo Ondimba, who was President of Gabon from 1967 to 2009. After their divorce, she successfully pursued a career...
. He is said to have used his position as head of police to keep watch on his sister and report her "indiscretions" to Bongo. Bongo and Joséphine divorced in 1988. Although Assélé was considered a "long-time and trusted ally" of Bongo, Léon Ossiali was appointed to replace him as Commander-in-Chief of the National Police Forces on 12 January 1989. His removal from that key position was interpreted by some observers as a consequence of Bongo's divorce; another explanation attributed it to a leaflet campaign by the exiled opposition group MORENA
Morena
Morena is a city and a municipality in Morena district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is also known as Muraina and is the administrative headquarters of Morena District and of Chambal Division. It is 39 km away from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh...
, which had smuggled the leaflets into Gabon. Despite being removed from his police command, Assélé remained in his post as Minister of Public Works at that time. After ten years as Minister of Public Works, he was instead appointed as Minister of Water and Forests in February 1990, but he only held that position until April 1990, when he was dismissed from the government.
Political career after 1990
Assélé was elected to the National AssemblyNational Assembly of Gabon
The National Assembly of Gabon is the lower house of the Parliament of Gabon. It has 120 members, 111 members elected for a five year term in single-seat constituencies and 9 members appointed by the President.-Latest results:...
in the 1990 parliamentary election
Gabonese legislative election, 1990
Parliamentary elections were held in Gabon in 1990, the first multy-party elections in the country since 1967. The first round of voting was held on 16 September, with a second round due the following week. However, results from 32 of the 120 constituencies were annulled after public protests...
. Together with other members of the PDG, Assélé split from the ruling party in late 1992 and formed the Circle of Liberal Reformers; as a result, he and two others were expelled from the PDG in December 1992. He and the CLR nevertheless allied with the PDG and supported Bongo's candidacy in the December 1993 presidential election
Gabonese presidential election, 1993
Gabon held a presidential election on 5 December 1993. Incumbent President Omar Bongo, in power since 1967, sought a five-year term against 12 other candidates. It was Gabon's first multiparty election, and according to official results Bongo won in the first round with 51.2% of the vote...
. Assélé remained in the National Assembly until the end of the parliamentary term in 1996, and he was re-elected to the National Assembly in the December 1996 parliamentary election, winning the second seat from the Third Arrondissement of Libreville
Libreville
Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon, in west central Africa. The city is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea, and a trade center for a timber region. As of 2005, it has a population of 578,156.- History :...
.
In the National Assembly, Assélé was President of the Center of Democrats (CDD) Parliamentary Group, and subsequently he was President of the Group of Republican Democrats (GDR) Parliamentary Group. He was also the Mayor of the Third Arrondissement of Libreville.
Return to the government (2004–2009)
On 5 September 2004, after 14 years out of the government, Assélé was appointed as Minister of Labor and Employment; as a result he had to step down as Mayor of the Third Arrondissement due to incompatibility of functions. Nevertheless, he was not immediately replaced in his post as Mayor and the situation was somewhat confused; Assélé continued to sign municipal acts due to the lack of a replacement, although the legality of this was unclear.In 2005, after Zacharie Myboto
Zacharie Myboto
Zacharie Myboto is a Gabonese politician and President of the National Union , an opposition party. He was the Administrative Secretary of the Gabonese Democratic Party from 1972 to 1990 and served in the government from 1978 to 2001...
criticized Bongo in his book J'accuse, Assélé published Incroyable!, a book written in response to J'accuse, criticizing Myboto. Assélé backed Bongo in the November 2005 presidential election
Gabonese presidential election, 2005
Gabon held a presidential election on 27 November 2005. Incumbent President Omar Bongo Ondimba, in power since 1967 , sought another seven-year term against four other candidates. According to an announcement of results by the country's interior minister, Bongo won the election with 79.2% of the vote...
and participated in his campaign team as President of the Security Commission. Following Bongo's re-election, Assélé was moved to the post of Minister of the Civil Service, Administrative Reform, and the Modernization of the State on 21 January 2006.
In the December 2006 parliamentary election
Gabonese legislative election, 2006
A legislative election was held in Gabon on 17 December 2006 ....
, Assélé ran for re-election to the second seat from the Third Arrondissement; he was initially declared the winner, but the opposition Union of the Gabonese People
Union of the Gabonese People
The Union of the Gabonese People is an opposition political party in Gabon. Officially registered in 1991, the current party president is Pierre Mamboundou....
(UPG) protested that. On 27 December 2006, the Constitutional Court invalidated Assélé's victory and declared UPG candidate Bernadette Bourobou Koumba the winner with 41.85% of the vote; the results from some polling stations were invalidated because of fraud. Assélé had been continuously elected to that seat since 1990, and his defeat there, in what was considered his stronghold, was viewed as a possible sign of the CLR's declining fortunes. After the Constitutional Court declared Koumba the winner, Assélé called on his supporters to remain calm and refrain from violence or disorder, stressing that Gabon was a state of law; he said that he would appeal to the Constitutional Court for the annulment of the results in his constituency due to irregularities. Following a partial election re-run in June 2007, Assélé expressed anger towards other parties of the Presidential Majority, believing that they were not treating the CLR properly, and he threatened to leave the Presidential Majority. His ministerial portfolio was modified on 28 December 2007, when he was appointed as Minister of the Civil Service and the Modernization of the State.
Assélé was instead appointed as Minister of Communication, Posts, Telecommunications, and New Information Technologies on 4 February 2008, taking office on 7 February. He represented Gabon at a summit of the Economic Community of Central African States
Economic Community of Central African States
The Economic Community of Central African States is an Economic Community of the African Union for promotion of regional economic co-operation in Central Africa...
(ECCAS) in Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
on 10 March 2008. He was subsequently moved to the position of Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation on 7 October 2008.
On 25 March 2008, Assélé announced his candidacy for the position of Mayor of Libreville as part of the April 2008 local election
Gabonese local elections, 2008
Local elections were held in Gabon on April 27–30, 2008, with 1,990 municipal and departmental councillors being elected.- Overview :...
. In that election, he headed the CLR's candidate list in the Third Arrondissement. After the election, the opposition challenged the results in the Third Arrondissement, but its appeal was rejected by the Constitutional Court.
Political activities since 2009
Assélé served in the government for over four years before being dismissed on 14 January 2009. Protesting his exclusion from the government, Assélé called a meeting of the CLR leadership and decided that it was necessary to take steps to increase the party's national prominence; accordingly, he asked that all the party's elected officials refuse to accept secondary positions that were "detrimental to the honor of the party". As a CLR candidate in the Third Arrondissement of Libreville, Assélé was elected as a Senator in the 18 January 2009 Senate election. He was subsequently elected as the Fourth Vice-President of the SenateSenate of Gabon
The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of Gabon. It has 102 members, elected for a six year term in single-seat constituencies by local and départemental councillors...
on 16 February 2009. Assélé was not present for the election of members of the Bureau of the Senate. Because the CLR leadership had already agreed that Assélé would not accept any post in the Bureau of the Senate below that of Third Vice-President, Assélé sent a letter to Senate President Rose Francine Rogombé
Rose Francine Rogombé
Rose Francine Rogombé is a Gabonese politician who was Acting President of Gabon from June 2009 to October 2009, following the death of long-time President Omar Bongo. She constitutionally succeeded Bongo due to her role as President of the Senate, a post to which she was elected in February 2009...
on 17 February, notifying her that he declined the post of the Fourth Vice-President.
After more than 41 years in power, Omar Bongo died on 8 June 2009. Assélé then urged the parties of the Presidential Majority to unite behind a single candidate for the August 2009 presidential election
Gabonese presidential election, 2009
A presidential election was held in Gabon on 30 August 2009 after the incumbent President Omar Bongo Ondimba died on 8 June 2009. While the constitution stated that Interim President Rose Francine Rogombé should organise elections within 30 to 45 days, the Constitutional Court accepted the...
. The PDG selected Ali Bongo as its candidate; as Ali was a son of Omar Bongo and Joséphine Kama, Assélé was his maternal uncle. Unlike many other leaders of Presidential Majority, who defected to run their own candidacies or back opposition candidates, Assélé strongly supported Bongo. When the PDG officially launched its campaign in mid-August 2009, Assélé was present for the occasion and declared that the PDG's "true friends" were there, suggesting that false friends were exposed by their absence. At a rally for Bongo in the Third Arrondissement on 27 August, he denounced André Mba Obame
André Mba Obame
André Mba Obame is a Gabonese politician. After serving as an adviser to President Omar Bongo in the 1980s, he was a minister in the government of Gabon from 1990 to 1991 and again from 1997 to 2009; during that time, he was identified with the reformist wing of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party...
, who had left the PDG to run as an independent candidate.
The Senate held another vote for the position of Fourth Vice-President on 15 September 2009, and Assélé was again elected to the post, receiving 80% of the vote. Assélé accepted the post on that occasion, despite his refusal earlier in the year.
Bongo won the presidential election with about 42% of the vote, according to official results, but the opposition alleged fraud and appealed to the Constitutional Court in September 2009. One of the minor opposition candidates, Luc Bengone Nsi of MORENA
Morena
Morena is a city and a municipality in Morena district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is also known as Muraina and is the administrative headquarters of Morena District and of Chambal Division. It is 39 km away from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh...
, filed an appeal based on an accusation that Ali Bongo was an adoptive rather than natural son of Omar Bongo and that he was a Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n by birth; because Bongo was born outside of Gabon (in Brazzaville
Brazzaville
-Transport:The city is home to Maya-Maya Airport and a railway station on the Congo-Ocean Railway. It is also an important river port, with ferries sailing to Kinshasa and to Bangui via Impfondo...
), he would be ineligible for the Presidency if he were not born to Gabonese parents. On 18 September, Assélé reacted furiously to Bengone Nsi's claim and announced plans to sue him over the matter—"To say ... that my nephew is of Nigerian origin is pure defamation"—while vouching for the accuracy of the official version of Bongo's birth: "I affirm that Mr. Ali Bongo Ondimba was born in Brazzaville to father Albert-Bernard Bongo and mother Kama Joséphine in 1959."
In early 2010, the CLR under Assélé's leadership was one of the only significant parties to remain allied with the PDG as part of the Presidential Majority. He led a delegation of political parties supporting President Bongo at a meeting with the latter on 15 December 2010 to discuss the forthcoming parliamentary election and other matters.