The former presidential spokesperson from 2017 to 2019 was released from the central prison on Wednesday, April 3rd. He had been sentenced in 2022 to eight years in prison for embezzlement of public funds as part of an anti-corruption operation named Scorpion. Other senior officials imprisoned as part of this operation have been released since the military coup in August 2023.
“We can’t believe it. For the moment, it’s too surreal,” said a source close to Ike Ngouoni after his release. The former presidential spokesperson has spent nearly five years in detention since his arrest in September 2019. He was accused of managing over seven billion CFA francs in his capacity but failing to justify the use of this money intended to finance presidential communication. His lawyers had denounced an unjust conviction far from reality.
The reasons for his release are not yet known, but many speculate about a presidential pardon, even though in Gabon, it is customary not to grant it while a case is ongoing. However, for Ike Ngouoni, a judgment from the Court of Cassation was still awaited in a few weeks.
Several senior officials arrested as part of Operation Scorpion have already benefited from a pardon from President Brice Oligui Nguema. According to a reliable source, the head of state recently requested a list of those still detained, such as Christian Patrichi Tanasa, former director of the national hydrocarbons company.
Some see these releases as political acts as well. “The president is showing the Gabonese people that he is different from the Bongos. He is releasing people imprisoned by the old system, and whose misfortunes have elicited some sympathy for them,” analyzed one observer.