Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, the president of the Gabonese transition, is visiting Yaoundé December 6, 2023. A long-awaited visit since the general took power at the renovation palace in Libreville. Brice Oligui Nguema had, in fact, already visited all his counterparts in the sub-region except in Yaoundé where he will meet President Paul Biya face-to-face on Wednesday afternoon .
Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema's plane is scheduled to land at 11AM at Yaoundé Nsimalen international airport. Gabon's new strong man arrives in Yaoundé for the first time, draped in his mantle as transitional president and Gabonese head of state, a title he has had more than three months after taking power in Libreville.
Why did it take so long for him to tour almost all the capitals of the sub-region? A source close to the Cameroonian government responds that "everything comes in its time". Where some observers speculated on a certain tension in relations between Yaoundé and Libreville since the coup of August 30, which put an end to the reign of the Bongo and which Yaoundé had formally condemned, another source adds that there is a long tradition of friendship between the two countries and that there has never been a break in their relations.
In Yaoundé, Oligui Nguema will have a highly anticipated tête-à-tête with President Paul Biya at 3PM in the afternoon. As in the previous stages of his journey in Central Africa, he will undoubtedly justify to his host the motivations of the coup which brought him to power but also warm up the links of cooperation between the two countries. The Cameroonian side, for its part, justifies this summit meeting by the imperative of maintaining "a constructive dialogue" between Yaoundé and Libreville, as well as with all the countries of the sub-region.
As a prelude to this visit, the High Commissioner of Gabon to Cameroon invited the Gabonese community to mobilize and give the best welcome to their president. Brice Oligui Clotaire Oligui Nguema will spend barely a few hours on Cameroonian soil. Just after his audience with President Paul Biya, the general president of the transition and Gabonese head of state will head directly back to Libreville.
Translated from RFI by allafrica's Michael Tantoh
