*Tale Of Graft, Greed, Insensitivity, Wickedness
Background
A court in Gabon yesterday sentenced the country’s former First Lady, Sylvia Bongo, and Noureddin, the son of deposed President Ali Bongo, to 20 years in jail following a two-day trial.
On Tuesday night, Sylvia and Noureddin (mother and son) were found guilty of embezzlement and corruption after a trial that began a day earlier. They were not present, having fled the country.
Sylvia was born in France and holds French nationality as does her son. Both were not officially documented as holding any lawful public office while President Bongo held sway.
They were both fined 100m CFA francs (about N256m) with Noureddin ordered to pay an extra 1.2tn CFA francs ($2.1; £1.6bn) for financial damages suffered by the Gabonese state.
They were accused of exploiting Ali Bongo’s condition after he suffered a stroke in 2018 to run Gabon for their own personal profit. They denied the charges ahead of their trial, describing it as “a legal farce.”
Ali Bongo was ousted in an August 2023 coup led by Brice Oligui Nguema, who has since shed his military uniform and was elected President earlier this year.
The Bongo family ruled Gabon for more than 50 years. Ali Bongo was in power for 14 years before he was ousted. He had succeeded his father, Omar Bongo, who had ruled for 42 years.
Though an oil-producing country, almost half of the Gabonese live below the poverty line.
Life Of Fraud, Illegal Use Of Public Funds For Personal Luxury
The trial of the former First Lady Sylvia and her son Noureddin continued on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, in Libreville, amidst a tense atmosphere of revelations.
Tried in absentia, mother and son face an unprecedentedly harsh prosecution.
For the past two days, the Libreville courthouse has been the stage for the methodical dismantling of a family system accused of having conflated public funds with private interests.
In a packed courtroom, witnesses took the stand one after another, while the prosecutor’s voice resonated with the gravity of a verdict that is as much moral as it is legal.
Exemplary Sentences, Virulent Indictment
In a scathing indictment , the Attorney General at the Libreville Court of Appeal, Eddy Narcisse Minang, requested a 20-year prison sentence for each of the two defendants, along with a fine of 100 million CFA francs and the confiscation of all their assets for the benefit of the State: bank accounts, private residences, oil and mining assets, as well as some 50 companies.
The prosecution is also demanding the reimbursement of 4.4 billion CFA francs (about N11.19b) to the Public Treasury.
According to the magistrate, Sylvia and Noureddin “misappropriated presidential power” after President Bongo’s stroke.
He labelled them as “a duo culturally distant from the country, but financially very close,” estimating that the former First Lady received 16 billion CFA francs (about N40.6b) from the public treasury for her “personal needs.”
The prosecutor also mentioned alleged evidence of money laundering, including the purchase of private jets and prestigious real estate in London and Marrakech, financed with public funds.
“A Heavy Burden For The Gabonese Taxpayer”
The testimonies heard since the start of the trial supported the prosecution’s accusations.
Sylvia Bongo’s former Personal Assistant (PA) and Head of Protocol, Kim Oun, gave a striking account of a lavish lifestyle: between 1.8 (about N4.6b) and 2.4 billion CFA francs (about N6.1b) spent annually on dresses, jewelry, and works of art, not to mention the financing of 100 vehicles for the 2023 presidential campaign, estimated at 80 billion CFA francs (N204b).
According to him, “all final decisions rested with Noureddin Bongo,” who personally oversaw cash transfers to Dubai.
Oun, who was also the principal manager of several companies for Sylvia, was often described as her handyman, as well as Jordan Camuzet (childhood friend of Noureddin and financial intermediary), testified in court, describing how mother and son established a parallel system for managing public resources after 2018.
Oun recalled that the public treasury financed private trips, staff salaries and maintenance of personal aircraft, adding that these expenses represented “a heavy burden for the Gabonese taxpayer.”
As for Camuzet, he spoke of a Noureddin exercising “quasi-presidential power,” capable of summoning administrative officials and steering important land transactions, notably in Nkok, where a plot of 110 hectares was valued at several tens of billions of CFA francs.
A Trial With Symbolic Significance
The trial is shaping up to be one of the most landmark in Gabonese legal history. The defendants, charged with embezzlement of public funds, active corruption, money laundering, forgery of official seals, impersonation of a public official, and criminal conspiracy, continued to deny the charges.
According to the referral order, they claim to have received legal bonuses and remuneration enabling them to acquire their assets.
But for a large part of the public, the symbol goes beyond the judicial framework: it is now a question of deciding between private fortune and public wealth, and of knowing whether Gabonese justice will, this time, be able to reconcile power and truth.
*Culled from today’s edition of Gabon Review newspaper,with minor editorial tweaks such as currency conversion to Naira,headline change, injection of riders.
*PHOTO CAPTION: (Left) Sylvia Bongo and son, Noureddine… Ate from the national till while the people lacked.
