Bruno Ben Moubamba, presidential candidate in Gabon, uses new media to spread his message.
As Gabon prepares for its first election since the death of Omar Bongo [1], one candidate is trying to make history with the aid of social media. Bruno Ben Moubamba [2], journalist and director of the Edith Stein Institute [3] in France, has returned to Gabon to run as an independent candidate. His rivals who include the current prime minister, Jean Eyeghe Ndong [4], and Bongo's own son. Moubamba is trying to level the playing field.
Taking a page from Obama's playbook, his campaign is using the internet to mobilize a network of activists and supporters within Gabon and throughout the Diaspora. The Ben Moubamba campaign [2] not only has a blog [2], but has made extensive use of other social media platforms, including Twitter [5], Flickr [6], Facebook [7], YouTube [8], and hi5 [9]. Of course, it is unclear how many Gabonese can be reach through these platforms; only an estimated ten percent of citizens have internet access, whether privately or via public cafes.
Before his death on June 8th at the age of 73, Bongo was Africa's longest-serving ruler, having spent 41 years in power. With Bongo's son as the ruling party's official candidate, Gabon's lack of a democratic tradition, and with the August 30th [10] election fast approaching, Moubamba faces an uphill battle.
Born in 1967, the year that Bongo came to power, Moubamba represents a younger generation of African leaders. On his blog, Moubamba [2] has harsh criticism [11] for the powers that be, whom he has referred to as “specialists in repression,” and calls for intergenerational dialogue:
Je suis en ce moment en train de recomposer mon équipe pour passer de la pré-campagne à la campagne. Je travaille avec une centaine de volontaires. Je m’aperçois que les autorités de ce pays sont massivement rejetées par la population. Les participants des meetings des candidats gouvernementaux reçoivent entre 75 et 200 euros pour leur participation! On est en train d’acheter les Gabonais avec leur propre argent!
At this moment, I am reorganizing my team to transition from the pre-campaign to the campaign. I am working with 100 volunteers. I have found that the authorities of this country are massively rejected by the people. Those who participate in the meeting of the government's candidates receive between 75 and 200 euros for their participation! They are buying the Gabonese people with their own money!
Or, voilà plusieurs semaines que le Parti démocratique gabonais actuellement au pouvoir tergiverse sur la désignation de son candidat aux futures élections présidentielles. Les tensions semblent fortes. M. Eyéghé Ndong, l’actuel Premier ministre, a par exemple déclaré ses dernières heures qu’il se plierait à un rejet de sa candidature, si cela s’effectuait dans des conditions démocratiques.
Je me demande si ces tergiversations n’illustrent pas une querelle générationnelle naissante entre les quarantenaires et les soixantenaires, habitués du pouvoir.
J’ose espérer que la génération de nos aînés ne va pas opter pour la continuité sans transformation sous prétexte de défendre ses intérêts. Car il semble en fait que leurs intérêts, comme ceux de tous les Gabonais, se situent dans le changement et dans le dialogue intergénérationnel !
I wonder if these delays don't signal a fight between the generations born in the forties and the sixties, used to being in power. I dare to hope that the generation of our ancestors will not opt for continuity without transformation under the pretext of defending its interests. Because it seems in truth that their interests, like those of all the Gabonese, lay in change and intergenerational dialogue!
Bongo's son was eventually declared the official candidate, and Eyéghé Ndong, in protest, declared himself an independent candidate. Patrick Ageron [12], a supporter of Ben Moubamba, writes on the Facebook page of Bongo, Jr's nomination:
Une nouvelle preuve encore que le système de la royauté (où le fils devient le successeur du père) toujours en vigueur dans nos contrées a bien été exporté sur le continent Africain.
It's really a shame.
When will this stop?
Bruno, vous êtes enfin sur la ligne de départ! Je vous souhaite bonne chance pour la suite de cette belle aventure. Pour beaucoup d'entre nous vous incarnez le rêve d'un nouveau Gabon, bâti sur la justice et le droit; un pays où ” les gens de peu” relèvent enfin la tête. Du courage et bon vent!
Quand cela cessera-t-il?