Pres Bongo is freed from house arrest to seek medical treatment abroad

A screenshot of Former Gabon's President Ali Bongo after he was freed from house arrest.

Gabon's President Ali Bongo is freed from house arrest in Gabon so he can seek medical treatment abroad

The Gabonese junta have displayed their human side by releasing former President Ali Bongo from house arrest. Ali Bongo was preceded by his father, Omar Bongo, capping the Bongos' domination of the nation's politics at 56 years.

The younger Bongo, himself in power for 14 years, was about to extend his term by another seven year when the folks in the fatigues stepped out of the barracks and declared they did not like the conduct of the polls. They said they were taking charge.

Still, they were magnanimous enough to allow Bongo Junior access the internet, when he rallied the world to "make noise" and protest his ouster. Ordinarily, their former colonial masters in Paris would have deployed boots on the ground, but even the French appear to have other things on their mind, like the future of the Colonial Pact.

Quite briefly, the Colonial Pact obligated all former French colonies to deposit their nations' wealth in Paris, against which they could "borrow" at rates determined by France.

Think of an international Sacco, where you borrow against your savings. The future of Gabon and many African nations, it seems, was mortgaged right from the start. We know what happens when members withdraw their deposits from a Sacco; it cannot survive another day.

Which explains why many European powers are busy courting new stooges because the only way to dominate our continent is by dividing its people. And we know the fate of those who dare go against the grain: Nkurumah, Sankara, Lumumba, et all.