... till death do us part 
And in the end he too is gone. Omar Bongo, Gabon's father-master, died yesterday at a clinic in Barcelona. Hospitalized for a month, there were rumors of an aggravation, but only yesterday his death had been denied by government spokesmen.
in power for 41 years - the longest-serving African leader -, Bongo had been a staunch bastion of
Francafrique
both hours to get moving words of farewell from French President Sarkozy.
Bongo had his own way of exercising power: the first had to remove the term limits in order to be eligible for life, then had guaranteed elections "democratic" that bolstered always in power. The tactic is simple, the same applied to his counterpart from Cameroon Biya: Who is not with me, do not vote. And with various tricks, you ensure that only the faithful come to the polls.
Like any self-respecting dictator, Bongo also had some problems with the law: in France on him had been opened several investigations, including that of the nineties on Corruption, known as "the Elf", and that for embezzlement accumulation and illicit funds. Last March
Omar Bongo had lost his wife, Edith Lucie (daughter of the President of Congo Brazzaville, Sassou Nguesso) disappeared only 45 years after a painful illness. Now with his death in Gabon opens an unprecedented power vacuum. All the country's borders were closed during these hours and the heavy deployment of soldiers was placed to monitor sensitive areas, while people make the line to make supplies of food and fuel, fearing the worst. According to some observers, the Bureau could now go to Bongo's son, Ali Ben Bongo.
