Gabon’s President-elect Brice Oligui Nguema who led a coup ending decades of Bongo family rule and swept polls last month with nearly 95 percent of the vote will be sworn in Saturday.
The general and former junta leader, who toppled Ali Bongo in August 2023 ending 55 years of dynastic rule by the Bongo family, officially takes the presidential reins after leading a 19-month transition government.
Several African heads of state are expected to attend the inauguration in a 40,000-capacity stadium, north of the capital Libreville.
They include Gambia’s Adama Barrow, Senegal’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Djibouti’s Ismail Omar Guelleh and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo from Equatorial Guinea.
According to local and international media, Democratic Republic of Congo’s president Felix Tshisekedi will also be present, along with his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame, whose attendance was confirmed by Kigali’s foreign ministry.
Kigali and Kinshasa are currently in talks to end fighting in eastern DRC.
Tickets were free to attend the investiture at the Angondje stadium, built to honour friendship between Gabon and China, and it will be the first time the country holds a swearing-in ceremony in front of such a large audience.
The event is slated to have artistic performances and a military parade, according to state media, which will be followed by a “victory concert” on the Libreville waterfront in the evening.
