Didacus Malowa, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Former Gabonese president Ali Bongo Ondimba, who was ousted in a 2023 military coup, has officially left the country and taken refuge in Angola.

This latest development marks a significant twist in the ongoing political saga surrounding the once-powerful Bongo dynasty, which ruled the oil-rich Central African nation for over five decades.

The Angolan presidency on Friday, May 16, confirmed the arrival of the Bongo family in Luanda through a statement posted on social media.

Photographs accompanying the announcement showed Bongo disembarking from a plane and being received at the airport in Angola’s capital, ending months of uncertainty about his fate and that of his immediate family.

The decision to allow the Bongo family to leave Gabon follows a series of high-level diplomatic engagements between Angolan president João Lourenço, currently serving as chair of the African Union, and Gabon's transitional leader, President Brice Oligui Nguema.

Angola’s presidency credited the release and relocation of the Bongos to “demonstrations made” by Lourenço following his visit to Libreville.

"Following the demonstrations made by the President of the Republic of Angola and the President-in-Charge of the African Union, João Lourenço, together with President Brice Oling Nguema, from Gabon, the Bongo family has been released and has just arrived in Luanda," read the statement.

Nguema, a former general and head of the elite Republican Guard, seized power in August 2023 after annulling the results of a disputed election that had declared Bongo the winner.

In April 2025, Nguema was elected president with nearly 95% of the vote.

While the precise terms of the agreement remain undisclosed, the development underscores Angola’s growing role as a mediator in regional political crises, especially under Lourenço’s leadership of the African Union.

Bongo, who ruled Gabon from 2009 until his ousting, was initially placed under house arrest in the aftermath of the coup.

Gabonese authorities later claimed he was free to move, but his supporters disputed these assertions, stating he remained effectively under state control.

Meanwhile, his wife, French-born Sylvia Bongo, and their son Noureddin were imprisoned on charges of corruption and money laundering.

In recent weeks, local media reported that they had been transferred from detention facilities to a house in Libreville, fueling speculation of a potential release.

Critics of the Bongo regime have long accused the family of siphoning state resources to fund an opulent lifestyle while basic services such as healthcare and education remained underdeveloped.

Source: TUKO.co.ke