Gabon in 2004
Gabon in 2004
Area: 267,667 sq km (103,347 sq mi)
Population (2004 est.): 1,351,000
Capital: Libreville
Chief of state: President Omar Bongo Ondimba
Head of government: Prime Minister Jean-François Ntoutoume-Emane
In January 2004 the Gabonese government closed the Omar Bongo Technical High School, the country’s largest secondary educational establishment, after four days of rioting. An official inquiry found that more than 1,000 students had been admitted with falsified credentials, and in some cases bribery and sex had been used to improve grades. Although the school was reopened in March, disastrous results in the annual baccalaureate examinations underlined the overall weaknesses in the Gabonese education system.
On February 2 visiting Pres. Hu Jintao of China signed an agreement to import large quantities of Gabonese oil. China had funded and built Gabon’s parliamentary complex and in July announced it would construct a national media centre in Libreville. On September 6, Pres. Omar Bongo left for a weeklong state visit to China, where he held talks with Hu at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Shortly after taking off from Libreville Airport on June 8, a Gabon Express aircraft crashed into the sea, killing 19 of 30 people aboard. An investigation revealed a record of poor aircraft maintenance and inadequate corporate administration. About 200 former state employees, among 650 fired in the 1999 privatization of the state-owned railroad corporation, demonstrated on August 28. They sought full payment of promised redundancy awards. The government responded by threatening the protesters with severe reprisals should they participate in sabotage or other illegal acts. On September 9 villagers demanding the restoration of electricity supplies attacked the police station in Lébamba, 400 km (250 mi) southeast of Libreville. One gendarme was killed, and a second was seriously injured.
Nancy Ellen Lawler