It had been four years since the head of state had last addressed the activists of the Parti Démocratique Gabonais (PDG) in person. This Saturday, on the 54th convention of the party formed by the late president Omar Bongo Ondimba on 12 March 1969, Ali Bongo Ondimba reconnected with his past.
Physical consequences
In October 2018, while attending an international forum in Riyadh, Ondimba suffered a stroke. Physically, the effects are still visible. The President now walks with a cane and talks slightly slower. But intellectually, “the machine works just as well as before. He has recovered his level of English. He’s expressing himself perfectly,” says environment minister Lee White, who is of Scottish origin.
According to those close to Ondimba, the big difference is that he is more determined than ever. It is as if he is trying to make up for lost time. “The pace of work has quickened,”
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