Comments on: Tuesday Morning Starting Five: The Rest In Peace Omar Bongo Edition

By: Miranda

Miranda — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:52:26 +0000

I’m totally ticked by the Kwame article. LOL…don’t hate the playa, hate the game……he’s playing with the same rulebook Madoff’s wife is playing with….cant be mad at’em for that.

By: Mizzo

Mizzo — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:10:07 +0000

You got that. I stand corrected.

By: Temple3

Temple3 — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:05:49 +0000

You get no props for longevity if you’re protected by the French. If he didn’t have their protection, he would be have been beaten to death and had his body cut up and placed in a vat of acid by mercenaries — like Patrice Lumumba. Or he might have caught a bullet to the dome from his “own” soldiers like Anwar Sadat…or his airplane might have crashed like Samora Machel.

Under no circumstances are long-lived protected men worthy of honor in my pantheon of African heroes. Bongo was bought and sold on the auction block of integrity.

By: awb

awb — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:02:07 +0000

I wouldn’t honor them in death either. Different strokes.

By: Mizzo

Mizzo — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:32:47 +0000

Dude became sick rich off oil at the people’s expense, but I’m not one to criticize anyone in death. That’s just me bruh.

By: awb

awb — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:24:52 +0000

Mizzo,

Huh?

As for Kwame Kilpatrick. He’s a dumbass.nm

By: Mizzo

Mizzo — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:01:27 +0000

I totally agree.

Just gave him props for longevity brothaman. 40 + years is a long ass time–whether right or wrong.

By: Temple3

Temple3 — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:52:09 +0000

On Omar Bongo:

Not a great loss by any stretch of the imagination. Bongo was a hired gun for the French who was installed against the wishes of the people.

Even Reuters peeped the game (sort of):

French radio said the Gabonese defence minister had ordered the closure of air, land and sea borders. The mayor of the capital Libreville banned large gatherings and ordered nightclubs and bars to close as security forces patrolled.

The government said it would respect the terms of the constitution, under which Senate President Rose Francine Rogombe, a Bongo ally in the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), is expected to take over as interim leader.

She should then organise elections within 45 days.

Bongo carved out a strong relationship with former colonial power France, and French influence is likely to continue.

French energy firm Total is one of the biggest investors in the country while the French military has around 1,000 troops stationed in the capital Libreville.

“All the French are interested in is continuity. They want the same leverage as they had, so a known candidate from within the (ruling) clan would seem to be preferable,” said Hannah Koep, West Africa analyst at risk consultancy Control Risks.

The French official who installed Bongo (and his name escapes me at the moment) is also dead. Still, the legacy lives on with the French desire to keep things as they’ve been for decades. It’s time for the French to get their ass kicked again.