TheCable

Gabon’s top court has ruled that the vice-president will chair the cabinet in the absence of President Ali Bongo (pictured), who remains in hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Bongo had been in the Saudi hospital after suffering a stroke last month.

The decision, announced by the constitutional court on Wednesday, was the first move to fill the vacuum left after Bongo was admitted to hospital during a conference on October 24.

Bongo had not been seen in public since and his state of health was unknown.

The government said he suffered a bout of fatigue and was recovering, but sources told Reuters that he had a stroke.

“Only the president has the power to chair the council of ministers,” Gabon’s Prime Minister Emmanuel Issoze Ngondet, who leads the cabinet, said.

‘Unfortunately he is temporarily unavailable for health reasons, and temporary unavailability is not addressed by the constitution.”

The Bongo family has ruled the oil-producing country for nearly half a century.

Bongo has been president since succeeding his father, Omar, who died in 2009. His re-election in 2016 was marred by claims of fraud and violent protest.