In quick succession, the PDG presidential party and then the government became concerned about certain verbal excesses on the part of activists or social networks. As the country awaits a presidential election this year, the authorities are calling for restraint.
The CEO says he noted, during the revision of the electoral list, a proliferation of xenophobic discourse, especially against naturalized people. The presidential party recalled that those fresh citizens could register, but that only fourth-generation Gabonese had the right to be candidates. The party considered that the stigma was “carrying the seeds of violence” before inviting the public to “measure”.
To illustrate, some mentioned the resignation of Ousmane Cissé at the end of May, four days after he arrives at the management of the Energy and Water Company, while critics denounced the choice of a Senegalese to manage one large national company. Others recalled the defense of the Higher Council for Islamic Affairs in early June, in the face of verbal attacks against their Beninese president naturalized Gabonese.
Thursday, the government spokesman, in turn, denounced “verbal excesses threatening to live together”. Rodrigue Mboumba Bissawou praised Gabon as a “welcoming land”.
Paul-Marie Gondjout criticized the episode and denounced the “manipulation” and “unfortunate communication” from the authorities. He urged the power to “do pedagogy instead of pitting the Gabonese against each other”. Gondjout insisted that the Gabonese “are not xenophobic and live with foreigners every day”, citing the example of the Transgabonais to show that the country had been built by workers from elsewhere.