GABON : Hope & Pray for my people...

Yesterday, Omar Bongo Ondimba passed away in a private clinic in Spain after a long battle against cancer. After more than 40 years as head of state of Gabon (my home country), we, people of Gabon, are for the first time orphan and afraid that the stability Omar Bongo Ondimba gave us during his time "au Palais du bord de mer" could vanished in the tense struggle to find a successor.

Today, reports from my own family, my friends and relatives, are that Ali Ben Bongo, Defence Minister, decided last night, to send the army in the streets to secure strategic position in Libreville and sensitive state building. Borders are close, vital communication like Internet or Fax network have been disable, which mean that most of us who live in Europe or America, are in a complete dark about what's going on over there.

Having met Ali Ben Bongo before, I trust his judgement and understand that right now his main priority is to secure his family and relatives and reassure the people that what we all want is to have a peaceful transition and keep maintain our politic and economic stability.

Today, we shouldn't think about payback, revenge or anything else which will bring up negative feeling about 40 years of fortune and wealth for a minority ethnic who had the privilege to be related by blood or by birth place to Omar Bongo Ondimba, no, not at all, today we should think about humility and forgiveness, we should think about standing side by side to each other to help our country to move forward and prepare ourselves for the challenge tomorrow will bring.

As I said, I trust Ali Ben Bongo to make the right choice about our country and his people, I trust him to make the right decision about tomorrow, I trust him to be as fair as anyone when the time will come to choose and install a new leader and a new government, and I trust him without any doubt to let the people make their own decision about where they want to go from now and who they want to see or elect as our next Head of State.