Gabon: Bongo's former allies in fear as he cracks down on corrupt officials

Gabon’s former minister of finance has been arrested in what commentators have described as a witch hunt by President Ali Bongo’s government.

Local press on Wednesday reported the arrest of Magloire Ngambia, a personal adviser of the president who left the government in 2015. He stands accused for embezzling public funds.

Ngambia was arrested alongside another high-ranking official, Blaise Wada, who manages a European Union-funded sanitation project in Libreville.

This arrests come in the wake of the oil minister’s dismissal, who’s also on the spot for misappropriating public funds.

Days of deadly rioting followed Bongo’s controversial re-election in the August elections, after opposition leader Jean Ping accused the incumbent leader of vote rigging.

Bongo was the country’s defence minister under his father’s rule, and his re-election has effectively extended the Bongo family rule over Gabon into a sixth decade.