Brice Oligui Nguema
Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema (French pronunciation: [bʁis klɔ.tɛʁ ɔ.li.gi ŋgɛ.ma], born 3 March 1975) is a Gabonese military officer serving as Transitional President of Gabon, chairman of the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions[5] and the Commander-in-Chief of the Gabonese Republican Guard.[6][7][8] He is believed to have played a key part in the 2023 Gabonese coup d'état overthrowing Ali Bongo.
Brigade GeneralBrice Oligui
Position established
Grégoire Kouna
Antoine Balekidra
3 March 1975[2]
Ngouoni, Haut-Ogooué Province, Gabon[3]
Zita Nyangue Oligui
Early life[edit]
The son of a Teke mother and Fang military officer,[9][3] Oligui was born in Haut-Ogooué Province, Gabon, which was regarded as a stronghold of the ruling Bongo family.[10] Via his mother, he is a cousin of former President Ali Bongo.[11] Oligui was mostly raised by his mother and her family in Haut-Ogooué,[10][12] and studied at Omar Bongo University.[13]
Career[edit]
Oligui studied at Meknes Royal Military Academy in Morocco.[8] He served as an aide-de-camp to President Omar Bongo until his death in 2009. He then served as a military attaché at the Gabonese embassies in Morocco and Senegal.[14]
In October 2018, he was recalled to Gabon where he replaced President Ali Bongo's half-brother Colonel Frédéric Bongo at the head of the intelligence service of the Republican Guard.[10][15] He was then promoted to Brigadier general in April 2019.[10] In 2021 he restarted Operation Mamba, a campaign to arrest corrupt officials.[16]
He took over the head of the Gabonese Republican Guard in April 2020, replacing General Grégoire Kouna, a cousin of then President Ali Bongo.[17] He significantly increased the Special Interventions Section (SIS), a special unit placed under the direct authority of the President, increasing it from around thirty to more than 300 elements.[15] He also composed a song which included the line "I would defend my president with honour and loyalty".[14]
According to a 2020 Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) investigation, he owns several properties in the United States worth more than $1 million[18] and also helped expand the Bongos' overseas businesses. Asked about these dealings, he said they were a "private affair".[14]
Officials of Bongo's regime and others who had interacted with Oligui described him as "fairly intelligent man, easy to talk to", "discreet" and "a man of consensus" who is "very appreciated by his men".[10]
Personal life[edit]
His brother-in-law Régis Onanga Ndiaye is his Minister for Foreign Affairs.[27]