It may not be by chance that Angolan President Joao Lourenco is the only head of state of the sub-region that General Oligui Nguema has not yet seen.
Officially, it is because of an incompatible agenda on the Angolan side that the appointment has not yet taken place.
In any case, several events would explain this cold snap between the two countries.
Various sources first explain that the Angolan ambassador to Gabon would have been rather cautious with the new power following the coup d’état. In addition, the absence of Gabonese officials during the ceremonies for the anniversary of Angola’s independence organized in Libreville in November would not have pleased Luanda.
Another problem: tensions broke out at the ECCAS headquarters in Gabon between employees and the new management embodied by its Angolan secretary general Gilberto da Piedade Verissimo.
According to several sources, upon his arrival three years ago, he asked for a reassessment of the agents’ contracts and gave Angolans more space in the organization.
Enough to arouse a certain grumbling among the staff. Anger sometimes spread on WhatsApp networks or groups.
Management would have seen it as a destabilization operation. Gilberto da Piedade Verissimo would have campaigned for the ECCAS headquarters to move to Malabo.
On Friday, at the summit in Equatorial Guinea, the Gabonese press says that President Lourenço made a flash passage just to vote in favor of maintaining sanctions. The ECCAS has also maintained the suspension of Gabon.