May he rest in Peace, thoughts & prayers to the family
Now that the news is official back at home I can announce it here, but I knew it since yesterday and talked about it on Twitter (if you are following me). The French media had the scoop since yesterday morning so it was all over their TV. My phone blew up when I was at the gym, 11 missed calls, all from a blocked number. I knew then something was up and that somebody from overseas was trying to reach me. As soon as I got into my car, my phone rings and it's my mom. She tells me that the President passed away in a clinic in Spain.
The Prime Minister denied it at first claiming he didn't received any calls from the family or from the President's immediate entourage regarding the news and he took a plane with a few officials straight to Spain. From there they made the official announcement and the cause of death was a heart attack (he was also suffering from an intestinal cancer). The country is observing 30 days of mourning.
The borders have been sealed, nobody can get in or out. Some website announced there was a national curfew to prevent any type of violence but I called home and check that was false. Bogus websites are trying to spread fears and lies to scare the community overseas. Since we can't access any websites with their servers hosted back at home people tend to rely on them for information.
I go straight to the source and call my folks.
The Constitution says the Senate President will take over for a transition period of 45 days and organize new elections. Because this is Africa, people are speculating that the President son, Ali Ben Bongo who is also the Minister of Defense will run for President and continue the legacy of his dad.
Time will tell.
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