Gabon’s President Relaunches Probes Into Public Markets

Gabon’s new Military President, General Brice Oligui Nguema, has announced a commission of inquiry into public procurement to track down fraud.

A press release read on public television said the President had decided to reactivate the task force for controlling internal and external debt in order to carry out the verification of all public markets.

It continued, the task force will take up all the actions left suspended by the previous one without obvious reasons.

The Head of State invites the companies awarded public contracts and all the administrative entities concerned to contact the Commission upon receipt of their summons.

Also taking to social Media, General Oligui said the country requires careful and rigorous evaluation of public contracts to detect any irregularity or potential fraud.

Proclaimed transitional president who overthrew Ali Bongo Ondimba two weeks ago in Gabon, immediately called on the bosses practicing overbilling against kickbacks paid to senior officials of the deposed power to stop these maneuvers in public procurement.

A few days later, he publicly reprimanded hundreds of senior civil servants and public sector executives asking them to refund any embezzled funds within 48 hours or face repercussions.

The same day of the coup, the military arrested one of the sons of the deposed head of state, Noureddin Bongo Valentin , as well as six other young senior officials in the cabinet of the ex-president and his wife Sylvia. Bongo Valentin.

The searches at their homes, broadcast extensively by state television, showed them at the feet of trunks, suitcases and bags overflowing with wads of bank notes .Gabon is ranked 136th out of 180 for perception of corruption by Transparency International (2022).