Omar Bongo
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba (formerly Albert-Bernard Bongo, born December 30, 1935) has been President of Gabon since 1967.He became vice president in March 1967 and took office upon the death of LÃÂéon M'ba on November 28, 1967. He ended the one-party domination of the Parti DÃÂémocratique Gabonaise and allowed multiparty elections; however, a non-independent judiciary and widespread corruption and patronage limit the ability of citizens to effectively change the government. He held and won elections in 1993 and 1998 in response to popular demand, taking 51.2% and 66.6% of the vote respectively.
Bongo's wife is the daughter of Congolese president Denis Sassou-Nguesso. Bongo is also one of the wealthiest heads of state in the world, and this is attributed mainly to oil revenue and corruption.
This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.