The Gabonese presidency has debunked rumours saying that the sick president, Ali Bongo, has been replaced by a clone. Bongo is currently recovering in Morocco. Since taking ill in 2018, he has only returned to Gabon twice strictly on official visits. On both visits, he stayed briefly and flew back to Rabat, Morocco.
Rumours have it that the president had recruited a look alike to replace him for months while he received medical attention for a stroke in 2018.
The presidential spokesman, Mr Ike Ngouoni who spoke to reporters about the issue claims there’s no truth in the rumours going around. He was quoted saying, “The President of the Republic was here in flesh, a number of people saw him. He went around the city. Some of them were able to approach him, observe him, see him. It is totally a hoax. I admire the level of creativity, especially on the internet and their persistence in these rumours”.
Since October last year, a section of Gabonese have expressed mixed concerns as to the health situation of their president as it has become increasingly difficult to differentiate rumours from the reality.
