Ali Bongo

Ali Bongo Ondimba (born Alain-Bernard Bongo; 9 February 1959) also known as Ali Ben Bongo is a Gabonese former politician and dictator who was the third president of Gabon from 2009 until he was deposed in a coup in 2023. A member of the Gabonese Democratic Party, Bongo is the son of Omar Bongo, who was president from 1967 until his death in 2009.

During his father's presidency, Bongo was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1991, represented Bongoville as a deputy in the National Assembly from 1991 to 1999, and was the Minister of National Defense from 1999 to 2009. After his father's death, Bongo was elected president in the 2009 presidential election, marking the first political dynasty in the country. He was reelected in 2016, with elections being marred by numerous irregularities, arrests, human rights violations and post-election protests and violence.

On 30 August 2023, following the results of the general election, the military, led by Bongo's cousin Brice Oligui Nguema, ousted him from the presidency in a coup d'état due to lack of transparency in the election process and established a junta called the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions. He was briefly detained, then released. This effectively made Bongo the first Gabonese president to not die in service and has put an end to the long 56-year rule of the Bongo dynasty.