Cameroon: Paul Biya Feasts With Gabonese At 50th Anniversary

The Head of State was among some 15 other African peers at the 50th anniversary events of the independence of Gabon in Libreville yesterday.

The visit of the President of the Republic and the First Lady, brief as it was, left very clearly indelible imprints in the minds of many Gabonese. It was as if the 50th anniversary of independence would not have been complete without the presence of the Cameroonian presidential couple. Shortly after arriving in Libreville last Monday to a thunderous welcome, not only from his compatriots based here in Libreville, but also from the thousands of Gabonese present at the airport, the President of the Republic hardly had any rest.

He was one of the more noticeable guests at a highly-animated gala at the sea-front presidential palace during which he and the First Lady and other Heads of State had the opportunity to taste of the wide variety of Gabonese cuisine which, it must be said, is very rich and still to be fully discovered and appreciated. From the dining table, President Ali Bongo Ondimba’s guests were moved to the front of the palace facing the Atlantic Ocean from where they watched a live show of a number of Gabonese artists as well as a film on the history of Gabon. President Biya and the First Lady only got back to their La Sablière VIP residence in the early hours of yesterday. But even then, their day was to begin rather early as at about 10 a.m., they were back again at the presidential palace for the day’s main event, the military parade at the Avenue de Bord de Mer, Libreville’s principal avenue which runs for some three kilometers parallel to the sea shore.

If the official programme could not be executed to the letter from a time point of view, the Gabonese clearly exhibited their organizational capacity as nothing was left to chance. Every guest was led to their sitting position with computer accuracy and hostesses were readily on hand for any enquiries or problems. At about 10.30 a.m. the different Heads of State were driven into the ceremonial ground from the presidential palace where they had assembled. As they stepped out of their air-conditioned VIP bus hired from the the Societe Generale de Transport Public of Libreville, Cameroon Tribune was able to make count of the following Heads of State or government: Paul Biya of Cameroon and Madam, Blaise Compaore of Faso and madam, Idriss Deby of Chad and madam, Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brazaville and madam, Barrister Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal and madam, Joseph Kabila of the DRC ,Fradique de Meneses of Sao Tome and Principe, Amadou Toumani Toue of Mali and madam, Francois Bozize of CAR and madam, Yayi Boni of Benin and madam, Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi . Jean Ping, a “son of the soil” was also there, but representing the African Union of which he is president of the Commission. Some 20 other high-level delegations from far afield as China, were also represented , sometimes by Senate President, such as France or National Assembly speakers such as Angola or Equatorial Guinea. President Paul Biya’s arrival at the presidential tribune was an event within an event as he was very particularly acclaimed, comforting him further in his new position as a respected doyen of leaders of central Africa and, even beyond.

The 90-minute march-past was a veritable display of the discipline of Gabonese troops and provided a good occasion to display their preparedness to face any situation of war. For a country of Gabon’s size (hardly one million people), the number of men and equipment displayed yesterday clearly outsized the perceived potential of this southern neighbour of Cameroon’s. An attentive watcher from Cameroon would have found a number of things at yesterday’s parade rather strange. For example, the parade started with contingents from two countries, France and Senegal. There were also contingents from the Lycee Militaire, a secondary school at which future soldiers mix military training with normal schooling. There was also a contingent of Gabonese students from military training institutions abroad as well as one made up exclusively of trainers of Libreville’ military training institutions. Another curiosity here was the fact that as the troops marched past some families watched indifferently from their apartments in relaxed clothing, some even in their pyjamas.

The day’s events continued into very late yesterday evening. President Paul Biya and the First Lady left Libreville in the early afternoon. They were seen off at the airport by a government delegation including the two Ministers-Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Mr Jules Marius Ogouebandja and Mrs Rosen Bekale.