The Interim president of Gabon has appointed Raymond Ndong Sima, a formidable opponent of the ousted president Ali Bongo Ondimba, as interim prime minister.
Sima, an economist was prime minister under Bongo from 2012 to 2014 . He was a regular critic of the Bongo administration harping on bad governance and eventually threw his hat in the ring for President in the 2016 and the just concluded and disputed August 26 ,2023 election .
However,Sima withdrew his candidacy before the elections to pave the way for Albert Ondo Ossa, the consensus candidate,
The new prime minister was a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party, ( Bongos party)and was appointed minister of agriculture, livestock and fisheries in 2009.
Sima’s appointment was backed by a decree enacted by General Brice Oligui Nguema, the head of the Junta who was sworn in as interim president few days after the coup .
