He said He said on Gabon

6/15/2011: What UO says about Gabon President Ali Bongo, via its press office:

Gabon, with a population of 1.5 million, is one of the richest nations in its region after 50 years of coastal and offshore oil production. But its leaders acknowledge that oil will not last forever, and its democratically-elected president has introduced a sweeping “Gabon Emergent” program to shift the country’s economic focus, eliminate government corruption that existed before his 2009 election, and modernize the country’s workforce.

What the US Embassy says about Gabon President Ali Bongo, via wikileaks:

REF: YAOUNDE 147

Classified By: Political Officer Tad Brown for Reasons 1.4 b and d.

¶1. (C) Summary. Senior Gabonese officials in the Bank of
Central African States (BEAC) colluded to embezzle more
than 18.3 billion CFA (about $36 million) from the pooled
reserves of the six states of the Central African Economic
and Monetary Community (CEMAC) over the past five years,
according to a senior Embassy contact at the bank. In a
June 12 meeting with Poloff, the source, a senior
third-country national, said BEAC discovered the crime
during internal audits conducted in the wake of revelations
that Gabonese national and BEAC Governor Philip Andzembe
had covertly placed 500 million Euros in high-risk
investmentQwith French bank Societe Generale (reftel).
According to the Embassy source, senior Gabonese political
leadership, including the late President Omar Bongo and his
son, Defense Minister and presidential hopeful, Ali Bongo
benefitted from the embezzlement. The source said Gabonese
officials used the proceeds for their own enrichment and,
at Bongo's direction, funneled funds to French political
parties, including in support of French President
Nicholas Sarkozy. End summary.

…

The Easy Way to Rob a Bank
--------------------------

¶3. (C) The BEAC official explained that Gabonese
President Bongo's control of BEAC was more extensive than
the Governor's office; the Director of Accounting, the
Deputy Director of Accounting, the officials overseeing
international wire transfers, and the accountant in BEAC's
Paris branch have all been Gabonese nationals appointed by
Bongo. Working in concert, these officials were able to
subvert BEAC's safeguards. The Paris accountant was, until
recently, Gabonese national Armand Brice Nzamba, who is a
close personal friend of Ali Bongo, according to Post's
contact at BEAC. The BEAC official said BEAC had contacted
the Paris "financial police" who were investigating Nzamba
until he fled France earlier this year. Gabonese national
Maurice Moutsinga served as the Director of Accounting in
BEAC Headquarters for 20 years until his retirement in
¶2007. 

Supposedly there’s another leaked State Department cable saying Ali Bongo’s election was fraudulent, but I haven’t found it.