Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon is to withdraw its forces from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, a force known by its initials of MINUSCA. The cabinet on Thursday endorsed a request by the defence ministry to pull out the country’s troops in MINUSCA, “given the …
Read More »Gabon to quit UN peacekeeping force in CAfrica
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon is to withdraw its forces from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, a force known by its initials of MINUSCA The cabinet on Thursday endorsed a request by the defence ministry to pull out the country’s troops in MINUSCA, “given the …
Read More »Gabon fights elephant poachers with hi-tech tracker collars
elephant Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Ever tried to put a GPS real-time tracking collar on a five-tonne animal? Well in Gabon conservationists have begun trying to use the devices on elephants; tracking and drugging the animals, before attaching the high-tech gadgets in a bid to stop poachers and ivory …
Read More »Former DR Congo army chief accused of coup bid held in Gabon
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo’s former military chief, who has been accused by Kinshasa of an attempted coup against President Joseph Kabila in 2011, has been arrested in Gabon, sources told AFP. “General Faustin Munene has been arrested since Wednesday, January 10… in Gabon,” said a …
Read More »Gabon opposition leader prevented from flying to France
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon opposition leader Jean Ping was on Saturday prevented by the security forces from taking a flight to France over a judicial matter, he told AFP. “I was supposed to travel this evening but the security forces prevented me,” the former African Union chief told …
Read More »Gabon parliament votes to change constitution, gives Bongo more power
Gabon president defends constitutional change after parliament gives okay Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabonese President Ali Bongo on Wednesday defended a plan to change the constitution after the fiercely-contested draft cleared a key hurdle. Parliament on Wednesday approved a raft of changes that the opposition has slammed as a …
Read More »When hip-hop is political force
FEATURE | Alice Aterianus-Owanga | In Gabon as in other African states, rap has become instrumental in constructing political identity. On August 17, Gabon celebrated 57 years of independence with a massive free concert in the capital, Libreville. The aim: to promote national unity in a festive fashion. An impressive …
Read More »Danes stabbed in Gabon had been stalked: prosecutor
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | A grocer from Niger who knifed a Danish couple in Gabon shouting “Allahu akbar” came to the capital just two days before the attack and had been stalking the pair, a prosecutor said Monday. Saturday’s attack on the Danes, who were in the west African …
Read More »Gabon arrests dozens in knife attack that wounded two Danes
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Police in Gabon arrested dozens of people Sunday over a knife attack that wounded two Danish nationals working for National Geographic, apparently in retribution for “US attacks against Muslims,” officials said. The men detained were mostly traders and sellers in the popular market in Libreville …
Read More »Ping slams proposed changes to Gabon constitution as ‘autocratic’
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon opposition leader Jean Ping on Saturday said he would try to scuttle proposed changes to the country’s constitution, describing draft changes as “autocratic” and liable to violate the principle of separation of powers. “We must thwart this constitutional revision,” Ping told a crowd of supporters …
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