This paper offers an overview of the intricacies and complexities of the fifty-three-year-old reign of the Bongo regime in Gabon. It chronicles not only the opaque circumstances that brought Omar Bongo to power in 1967 but also the trajectory that enabled him to sustain his despotic rule over Gabon for almost 42 years and in a way that paved the way to the quasi dynastic succession that allowed his son to easily succeed him upon his death in 2009. Not only was Omar Bongo the longest-serving head of state in the world at the time of his death, Gabon is also now, arguably, the only so-called Republic, that is, the only non-officially monarchical system in the world, to have been ruled not only by the same family, but also by the same regime, for fifty-three years (and counting). This paper argues that at the core of this dynastic succession—and the “monarchical Republic” that ensued—was Omar Bongo’s ability to undo the presidential term-limit provisions that had been agreed upon by national consensus and erected in the constitution that followed the 1990 National Conference that brought multiparty politics back to the country after more than two decades of the absolutist dictatorship that had defined the politics of the country until then.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA

   Daniel Mengara

Corresponding author

Correspondence toDaniel Mengara.

Editors and Affiliations

1. Grand Valley State University, Wyoming, MI, USA

   Jack R. Mangala

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