Refleksi : Bongo menjadi saingan Soeharto untuk piala kejuaran tukang copet internasional .
http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/leader-turned-gabon-into-his-bongoville-20090611-c4tv.html Leader turned Gabon into his Bongoville Omar Bongo ... greedy leader prospered with French assistance. Photo: AFP June 12, 2009 Omar Bongo, 1935-2009 OMAR BONGO was the longest-serving president in African history, leading Gabon for 41 years and shamelessly looting the country's oil wealth. A diminutive, dapper figure, who conversed in flawless French and alternated between pomposity, courtesy and cruelty as required, Bongo treated Gabon as a self-obsessed landlord treats his private estate. He considered everything inside its borders to be his personal property and elevated corruption to a method of government. He amassed enough wealth to become one of the world's richest men and his great political achievement was to ensure that the revenues from Gabon's 2.5 billion barrels of oil reserves guaranteed his grip on power. He carefully allowed just enough oil money to trickle down to the general population of 1.4 million, thus avoiding any serious unrest. Meanwhile, he offered his domestic critics a bargain they could not refuse: drop your opposition in return for a modest but glittering slice of the oil wealth. By this method, he bought off every opponent and became the most successful of all Africa's Francophone tyrants, comfortably extending his political dominance into a fifth decade. The largest share of the oil money was, of course, reserved for Bongo himself, his family and the aristocracy of his own Bateke tribe. Earlier this year, Transparency International began investigating him for embezzlement. Few were surprised when it emerged that Bongo owned 33 properties in Paris and Nice with a combined value exceeding $254 million. The American authorities turned up $175 million in accounts in New York. Some of the oil money was used for great public works - and slavish glorification of the leader. Thus Gabon acquired Bongo University, Bongo Airport, many Bongo Hospitals, a Bongo Stadium and a Bongo Gymnasium. The president's home town, Lewai, was inevitably renamed Bongoville. Occasionally, Bongo would boast of his great benevolence. One American ambassador was summoned to the presidential palace in the capital, Libreville, to hear the president proclaim that he intended to make a multimillion-dollar donation to charity. "And will this sum come from your personal funds or from state funds?" asked the diplomat. Bongo was genuinely bewildered by this question. The two men quickly agreed that such fine distinctions were meaningless in Gabon. Omar Albert Bernard Bongo, who had died aged 73, was born in the town of Lewai near Gabon's eastern border, into one of France's smallest and most placid African colonies. The youngest of 12 children, he was an intelligent and ambitious young man and chose the only career open to young blacks under French rule, a junior clerical job in the colonial administration followed by the armed forces. Bongo was an air force lieutenant when Gabon won independence in 1960. He was fortunate to receive a series of junior cabinet posts from the country's first president, Leon M'Ba. In 1966 M'Ba promoted Bongo to the vice-presidency, probably judging that the young man posed no political threat. But M'Ba became gravely ill and died the following year, allowing Bongo to succeed him as president in December 1967 at the age of only 31. He converted to Islam in 1973. This was an era when France made no effort to disguise its direct influence in former colonies and, by the same token, African leaders did not pretend to conform to democratic norms. Bongo, an ardent Franco-phile, was happy to strike a favourable bargain with the old colonial power. He gave the French oil company Elf-Aquitaine privileged rights to exploit Gabon's oil reserves while Paris returned the favour by guaranteeing the young president's grip on power for the indefinite future. France kept its military bases in the country and a contingent of para-troopers underwrote Bongo's rule. He trusted no one but the French and his own family. He duly made his son, Ali-Ben, defence minister and his daughter, Pascaline, foreign minister and then chef de cabinet. He spent as much time as he could in Paris, revelling in his friendship with a succession of French presidents, particularly Valery Giscard d'Estaing and Jacques Chirac. Bongo behaved like an ageing sybarite during these long sojourns. An Italian fashion designer has testified that he kept Bongo supplied with prostitutes. When the Cold War ended, the old bargain between Bongo and Paris required modest adaptation. The president legalised opposition parties in 1993 and allowed a series of supposedly fair elections. In fact, all his opponents had been bribed. Bongo is survived by a former wife, Patience, two daughters and a son. Another wife, Edith Lucie, predeceased him. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
