Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda, the first female Prime Minister of Gabon, has been appointed to the role of Vice President. file. , photo credit: AFP
Gabon’s President Ali Bongo on Monday appointed Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda, the country’s first female prime minister, to the role of vice president and named a new PM in her place, his secretary-general said.
Ossouka Raponda, 59, was appointed in July 2020 after his predecessor stepped down. Earlier she was the Defense Minister.
He had to navigate a delicate political landscape as prime minister following an attempted coup in 2019 while Bongo was on prolonged medical leave following a stroke.
Bongo’s secretary general Jean-Yves Teille said in a video statement posted on the presidency’s Twitter account that former minister Alain-Claude Billie Baie Nage Osouka would replace Raponda and form a new government.
Osouka Raponda was named Minister of the Budget in 2012 before being elected mayor of the capital Libreville in 2014, becoming the first woman to hold the position since 1956.