Rose Francine Rogombé (''née'' Etomba) (20 September 1942 – 10 April 2015) was 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 nort ...
ese politician who was
Acting President of Gabon from June 2009 to October 2009, following the death of long-time 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 constitutionally succeeded Bongo due to her role as
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
of the
Senate,
["Gabon's Senate speaker becomes interim head of state"]
AFP, 10 June 2009. a post to which she was elected in February 2009.
[Christian Walter Ngouah-Beaud]
"Portrait: Rose Francine Rogombé, du prétoire au perchoir"
, Gabonews, 17 February 2009 . She was a
lawyer by profession and a member of the
Gabonese Democratic Party
The Gabonese Democratic Party (french: Parti Démocratique Gabonais, abbreviated PDG), is the ruling and dominant political party of Gabon. Between 1968 and 1990 it was the sole legal party.
History
The party was established as the Gabonese Dem ...
(PDG).
Rogombé was the
first female head of state of Gabon. After her interim presidency, she returned to her post as President of the Senate.
["Gabon: Rose Rogombé regagne son terreau du Sénat", Gaboneco, 20 October 2009 .]
Early life and career
Rose Francine Etomba, a member of the
Galwa ethnic group, was born in
Lambaréné
Lambaréné is a town and the capital of Moyen-Ogooué in Gabon. It has a population of 38,775 as of 2013, and is located 75 kilometres south of the equator.
Lambaréné is based in the Central African Rainforest at the river Ogooué. This rive ...
,
French Equatorial Africa
French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are ...
(now Gabon), in 1942.
["Gabon: Mme Rogombé, une magistrate fidèle de Bongo aux commandes"]
AFP, 10 June 2009 . After studying in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, she worked as a
magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
in Gabon. She also served in the government as Secretary of State for the Advancement of Women and Human Rights
[Christian Walter Ngouah-Beaud]
"Gabon: Parlement: Rose Francine Rogombé à la tête de la chambre haute pour six ans"
, Gabonews, 16 February 2009 during the 1980s.
["Gabon: Une femme élue président du Sénat"]
, ''Infosplusgabon'', 17 February 2009 . She left politics during the transition to multiparty politics in the early 1990s, instead devoting herself to law; she eventually became Vice-President of the Special Criminal Court.
[ In 2007, she received a degree in ]theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
.[
]
2008 local elections and 2009 Senate election
In the April 2008 local elections, Rogombé was elected as a municipal councillor in Lambaréné; she was subsequently elected as a Senator from Lambaréné in the January 2009 Senate election.[ Following the latter election, she was elected as President of the Senate on 16 February 2009, receiving the support of 90 of the 99 Senators who voted.][
Rogombé, who was nicknamed the "iron lady", was a somewhat obscure figure when President Bongo effectively selected her to become President of the Senate, and her selection reportedly surprised many in the PDG leadership. Despite her relative obscurity, she was reportedly familiar with the operation of political power in Gabon, being close to Bongo and a friend of the family of ]Georges Rawiri
Georges Rawiri (March 10, 1932 – April 9, 2006
Xinhua (''People's Daily Online''), April 10, 2006. , a prominent politician who became President of the Senate before his death in 2006.[
]
Presidency
As President of the Senate, Rogombé was the constitutionally designated successor to the Presidency of the Republic in the event of a vacancy in the latter office; if this occurred, she was to serve only in an interim
An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities.
Interim may also refer to:
Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept)
*Provis ...
capacity prior to the holding of a new presidential election, in which she would not be allowed to run.[ Following the death of President Omar Bongo on 8 June 2009, the Constitutional Court designated Rogombé as interim President on 9 June, and her swearing in was scheduled for the following day. In her capacity as interim President, the Constitutional Court said that Rogombé, unlike an elected President, would not have the power to dissolve the ]National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
or call a referendum. A new presidential election was required within 30 to 45 days, according to the Gabonese constitution, although it was considered very likely that it would be delayed beyond that point due to the need to update the voter rolls.
Rogombé was sworn in on 10 June 2009, in the presence of members of the Constitutional Court, government, Senate, and National Assembly, as well as foreign diplomats. She took the oath after a minute of silence in Bongo's memory, swearing "to devote all my strength to the good of the Gabonese people, with the aim of promoting its well-being and protecting it from all harm, to respect and defend the constitution and a state of law, and conscientiously to carry out my duties and to be fair before everyone".[ Internet access had been cut and television channels played only religious music following the announcement of Bongo's death.]
After Rogombé assumed the Presidency of the Republic, , the First Vice-President of the Senate, succeeded her as President of the Senate in an interim capacity.
In the presidential election held on 30 August 2009, PDG candidate Ali Bongo was victorious according to official results. Bongo was sworn in as President on 16 October 2009, and Rogombé returned to her post in the Senate on 20 October, taking over from Andjembé. There was no provision in the constitution specifically enabling her to return to her former post, but it was believed that Rogombé's resumption of duties in the Senate could constitute a precedent in that regard. In recognition of her work in leading Gabon through the early presidential election, Marcel Sandoungou, the oldest Senator, presented her with a medal of honor on the occasion of her return to the Senate. She said that the Senate was ready to work with Bongo as he pursued his planned reforms.[
]
Post-Presidency
Rogombé distributed 23,000 toys to children in Lambaréné on 30 January 2010 in a belated celebration of Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
.
Following the December 2014 Senate election, Lucie Milebou Aubusson was elected to succeed Rogombé as President of the Senate on 27 February 2015.
Rogombé died on 10 April 2015 at a hospital in Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, where she had gone for medical treatment a few days earlier.Gabon: Francine Rogombe, the first woman senator died
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogombe, Rose Francine
1942 births
2015 deaths
21st-century women politicians
Female heads of government
Women rulers in Africa
Gabonese Democratic Party politicians
Gabonese lawyers
Gabonese women in politics
People from Lambaréné
Presidents of Gabon
Presidents of the Senate of Gabon
Gabonese women lawyers
21st-century Gabonese people