André Mba Obame

André Mba Obame (15 June 1957 – 12 April 2015) was a Gabonese politician. After serving as an adviser to President Omar Bongo in the 1980s, he was a minister in the government of Gabon from 1990 to 1991 and again from 1997 to 2009; during that time, he was identified with the reformist wing of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG). He held the key post of Minister of the Interior from 2006 to 2009 and then briefly served as Minister of the Coordination and Follow-up of Government Action in mid-2009. He was an independent candidate in the 30 August 2009 presidential election and placed third with 25.33% of the vote, according to official results, but he claimed victory and alleged that the PDG candidate, Ali Bongo, won through fraud.

Mba Obame was born in Medouneu, located in northern Gabon. He was President Omar Bongo's Deputy Adviser for African and International Affairs from 1984 to 1986 and then Adviser to the President for Development and Public and Productive Investments before being appointed to the government as Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and the Rural Economy in April 1990. Subsequently he was moved to the post of Minister of Human Rights and Relations with the Assemblies in November 1990. Mba Obame was viewed as a PDG reformist in the early 1990s, along with Bongo's son Ali Bongo. A 1991 legal change sought by party leaders required that ministers be at least 35 years old, thus forcing his departure from the government, along with Ali-Ben Bongo. From 1991 to 1994, Mba Obame was Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidency of the Republic, and from 1994 to 1997 he was High Commissioner under the Minister of the Interior.

In the December 1996 parliamentary election, Mba Obame won a seat in the National Assembly as a PDG candidate in Woleu-Ntem Province; he then returned to the government as Minister of Relations with Parliament and the Assemblies, as well as Government Spokesman, on 28 January 1997. After Bongo won re-election according to the official results of the December 1998 presidential election (disputed by the opposition), Mba Obame said that "the campaign was of high quality and the Gabonese showed maturity and serenity which can only add credibility to the Gabonese political system".

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