After a weeks-long hospitalization in Saudi Arabia, Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba is expected to arrive in Rabat today to continue treatment.
Rabat – While in Saudi Arabia for a conference on October 24, Bongo suffered a stroke and spent nearly a month at King Faisal Hospital in Riyadh.
In a Facebook post, Bongo’s wife, Sylvia Bongo Ondimba, announced that the president’s health has improved and expressed gratitude to the Saudi authorities and medical staff at the hospital.
She wrote: “To pursue his recovery, the president, consulting his close family members, has made the decision to accept the proposal of his brother, His Majesty the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI … My husband will arrive tomorrow in Rabat, the capital.”
International media previously reported that King Mohammed VI “managed to convince” Bongo’s family to transfer him to Morocco instead of London.
According to his wife, Bongo has also asked his advisers to join him in Rabat to discuss his country’s affairs in line with his extended absence.
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Gabon’s Vice-President Pierre Claver Maganga Moussavou had already taken over in Bongo’s absence to handle Gabon’s affairs.
The Constitutional Court had resolved to authorize Moussavou to chair the Council of Ministers and handle urgent matters and “ensure the continuity of the State and the public service, as well as the regular functioning of the government,” Africanews reported.
Bongo has visited Morocco several times. King Mohammed VI and the Gabonese president share a good relationship.
In 2017, Bongo shared a picture of himself and King Mohammed VI as teenagers, demonstrating the long-standing friendship between them.
