Oligui Nguema visits Edith Bongo’s grave in Congo
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on GabonActu
Gabonese President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema travelled to Oyo, in northern Congo-Brazzaville, to lay a wreath on the grave of Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba. He was also received by President Denis Sassou Nguesso, amid tensions between Libreville and Brazzaville over ill-gotten gains, according to GabonActu.
Gabonese President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema travelled on Sunday 1 November 2026 to Oyo, in northern Congo-Brazzaville, to lay a wreath on the grave of Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba, Gabon’s former first lady, who died in 2009. He was accompanied by a delegation of officials and “wise men”, and was then received by Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, according to GabonActu.
The daughter of Denis Sassou Nguesso and wife of former Gabonese president Omar Bongo Ondimba, Edith Bongo is regarded as a link between the two presidential families. The Gabonese delegation included Marie-Madeleine Mborantsuo, former head of Gabon’s Constitutional Court, as well as banker and businessman Henri-Claude Oyima and several figures from Haut-Ogooué.
The visit comes as Libreville and Brazzaville disagree over the French procedure known as the ill-gotten gains case, opened after complaints were filed in 2007 and 2008 against the families of Omar Bongo, Denis Sassou Nguesso and Teodoro Obiang. Gabon, which was granted civil-party status in 2023, sent observations to the investigating judge through its lawyers on 8 September, according to Africa Intelligence. The trip follows Denis Sassou-N’Guesso’s participation in the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow and his meeting with Vladimir Putin on 27 and 29 October.
