Marie-Madeleine Mborantsuo (born 18 April 1955) is a Gabonaise lawyer. She is the president of the

Constitutional Court of Gabon The Constitutional Court of Gabon (''Cour Constitutionnelle de la république gabonaise'' or ''Cour constitutionnelle du Gabon'') is the constitutional court of Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: Républ ...

(''Cour Constitutionnelle de la Republique Gabonaise'') since its foundation in 1991.

Personal life and education

Mborantsuo was born in

Franceville Franceville is one of the four largest cities in Gabon, with a population of 110,568 at the 2013 census. It lies on the Mpassa River and at the end of the Trans-Gabon Railway and the N3 road. It grew from a village named Masuku when Pierre Savor ...

on 18 June 1955. Her parents were Jean Dambangoye and Berthe Nouo. She won a "Miss Franceville" beauty pageant, and became the lover of the then president

Omar Bongo El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second President of Gabon for 42 years, from 1967 until his death in 2009. Omar Bongo was promoted to key positions as ...

, with whom she had two children. She studied law at the National University of Gabon (later

Omar Bongo University Omar Bongo University (French: ''Université Omar Bongo'') a public university which was founded as the National University of Gabon in 1970. It was renamed in honor of President Omar Bongo in 1978. It is based in Libreville, and was the country' ...

), then gained a Masters in Public Finance at

University of Paris II A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which rou ...

and a doctorate in constitutional law in 2005 at the

University of Aix-en-Provence Aix-Marseille University (AMU; french: Aix-Marseille Université; formally incorporated as ''Université d'Aix-Marseille'') is a public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II o ...

. Her doctoral thesis title was ''Cours constitutionnelles africaines et État de droit''.

Career

From 1983 to 1991 she was president of the ''Cour de Comptes'' of the Supreme Court of Gabon and taught law at Omar Bongo University. After taking part in the national conference of 1990 she was one of the writers of the country's new constitution, and became president of the newly-established

constitutional court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

(the

), a post she still holds . It has been suggested that she "contributed to the Constitutional Court's loss of legitimacy as an impartial institution" by making controversial decisions on the allegedly fraudulent presidential elections of

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

in which her former lover and then her step-son

Ali Bongo Ondimba Ali Bongo Ondimba (born Alain Bernard Bongo; 9 February 1959),"Bongo Ali", ''Gabon: Les hommes de pouvoir'', number 4Africa Intelligence 5 March 2002 . sometimes known as Ali Bongo, is a Gabonese politician who has been the third president of Ga ...

retained and gained the post of president.

Selected publications

*''La contribution des Cours constitutionnelles à l'Etat de Droit en Afrique'', (2007, Economica: ) *''La Constitution de la République Gabonaise''

References

1955 births Living people Gabonese lawyers Gabonese women lawyers Omar Bongo University alumni Omar Bongo University faculty Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni Aix-Marseille University alumni 21st-century Gabonese people {{Africa-law-bio-stub