Pascaline Mferri Bongo Ondimba (born 10 April 1957David E. Gardinier and Douglas A. Yates, ''Historical Dictionary of Gabon'' (2006), third edition, page 45.) is a

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

ese politician. Under her father, 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 ...

, she was

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 1992 to 1994 and Director of the Cabinet of the President from 1994 to 2009.

Background and political career

Born at

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 ...

, in 1956, Pascaline Bongo is the eldest daughter of Omar Bongo and Louise Mouyabi Moukala. Pascaline Bongo was appointed as Personal Adviser to the President of the Republic in 1987"Gabon President's Daughter Debuts at UN as Minister of Foreign Affairs"
''Jet'', 4 November 1991, pages 10–11. and entered the government as Minister of Foreign Affairs in June 1991. President Bongo had entrusted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to close relatives since 1981. Pascaline's immediate predecessor in that post was her half-brother

Ali Bongo Ali Bongo Ondimba (born Alain-Bernard Bongo; 9 February 1959), also known as Ali Bongo and Ali Ben Bongo, is a Gabonese former politician who was the third president of Gabon from 2009 to 2023. He is a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party. He ...

, who was several years younger than Pascaline and had been rendered ineligible for a ministerial post by a constitutional age requirement. In her first address to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

later in 1991, she praised the expulsion of Iraqi forces from

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

and expressed concern over violence in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. She welcomed reforms in South Africa, but also stressed that further steps were needed to fully eliminate the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

system. Noting the collapse of socialism in the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republic ...

countries, she said that the world was witnessing rapid change, but she emphasized Gabon's view that the economic gulf between developed and developing countries—the global "north" and "south"—was "the real problem". Pascaline Bongo remained Minister of Foreign Affairs until March 1994, when President Bongo appointed Jean Ping to replace her. He appointed Pascaline as Director of the Presidential Cabinet at that time. Following her father's death in June 2009, her half-brother Ali was elected President; immediately after taking office, Ali moved Pascaline from her post as Director of the Presidential Cabinet to the post of High Personal Representative of the Head of State on 17 October 2009. In the years that followed, Pascaline and Ali reportedly had a contentious relationship.

Personal life

Pascaline Bongo dated singer

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

in 1980–81, and talked about the relationship in the documentary film ''Marley'' (2012). Pascaline Bongo had a relationship with Jean Ping during the late 1980s and early 1990s; the two had two children. However, Ping was already married and was unwilling to divorce his wife. Ultimately, in 1995, Bongo married

Paul Toungui Paul Toungui (born 7 September 1950"Who's Who", Africa Intelligence, ''Gabon: Les Hommes de Pouvoir'', number 4, 5 March 2002 .) is a Gabonese politician who served in the government of Gabon from 1990 to 2012. He was Minister of Finance from 199 ...

, a prominent member of the government.Jean-Dominique Geslin
"La méthode Bongo"
''Jeune Afrique'', 5 January 2003 .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bongo Ondimba, Pascaline Bongo Ondimba, Pascaline Living people People from Haut-Ogooué Province Gabonese Democratic Party politicians Foreign ministers of Gabon Women government ministers of Gabon Children of presidents Female foreign ministers 20th-century women politicians Gabonese women diplomats 21st-century Gabonese people