A court in the French city of Bordeaux ordered the President of Gabon, Omar Bongo Ondiba, to compensate the son of a French citizen, René Cardona, who was jailed in Gabon in 1996. The court found Mr Bongo guilty of official corruption. The court portrayed Mr Cardona as an “accomplice of President Bongo and his family in arms and fishing equipment firm” when a judicial inquiry that led to his jailing in Libreville was launched.
Albert-Bernard Bongo was the former Vice President of Gabon under the country’s first leader, Leon Mba. After Mba’s death in 1967, the man who later became Omar El Hadj, took over the mantle of leadership. He is today Africa’s longest serving ruler.
The French tycoon was freed after his son had transferred CFA 300 million francs to the private account of President Bongo, which according to the French judge, must be paid back by the Gabonese leader.
Bongo, who was blamed for receiving the money without a just cause, was also ordered to pay interest on it.
The French prosecutor on Monday opened an inquiry into allegations of embezzlement of public funds by the Gabonese leader and President Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo Brazzaville. The inquiry was launched after applications by three French associations have been advanced.
The inquiry followed allegations that the accused Presidents diverted public funds to buy luxurious hotels and apartments in the French capital Paris.
