Brice Nguema who heads the Gabonese Presidency’s Republican Guard, has been sworn-in as the nation’s interim president following a military coup.
Gabonese soldiers appeared on television on August 30, 2023 to announce that they were “ending the current regime” and annulling the elections, which were officially won by President Ali Bongo Ondimba.
Nguema- commander-in-chief of the Gabonese Republican Guard – the country’s most powerful security unit – and a cousin to Bongo was identified as the ringleader of the coup.
The interim president was described as a powerful figure and one of the most influential and enigmatic figures in the country today.
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He trained at the Royal Military Academy of Meknes, in Morocco.
He then served as Bongo’s “aide-de-camp” to the commander of the Republican Guard under former President Omar Bongo, until the death of the former Gabon leader in 2009.
Ali Bongo: Things to Know About Gabonese President Ousted by Military
When Ali Bongo, Omar Bongo’s son, came to power in October 2009, Nguema was sent to Morocco and Senegal on a diplomatic mission.
A decade later, he assumed the position of head of the security team.
As leader, Nguema attempted to strengthen Gabon’s internal security system through reforms seen as prolonging Bongo’s term in power.
According to local media, Nguema composed a song that reads: “I will defend my president with honor and loyalty.”
In addition to his military and diplomatic missions, Nguema was considered an adventurous man and was also named a millionaire in Gabonese circles.
According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) 2020 investigation into the Bongo family’s assets in the United States, US Nguema invested in real estate by paying cash.
The OCCRP report said:
“He bought three properties in middle- and working-class neighbourhoods in the Maryland suburbs of Hyattsville and Silver Spring, just outside the capital, in 2015 and 2018. The homes were purchased with a total of over $1 million in cash.”
He reportedly bought three properties in middle-class and working-class neighborhoods in the suburbs of Hyattsville and Silver Spring, Maryland, just outside D C, in 2015 and 2018.
The homes were purchased for a combined total of over $1 million in cash.
Nguema refused to disclose details about the property, saying it was a private matter.
He said:
“I think whether in France or in the United States, a private life is a private life that [should be] respected.”
