Ebomaf Gabon faces worker protests over alleged forced transfers and unpaid benefits
via Gabon Review2 min read
Over 900 Gabonese workers employed by the Burkinabe group Ebomaf, a company with significant road construction contracts in Gabon, are protesting alleged forced transfers to a subcontracting firm, Esdras Services, without proper social plans or final severance pay. On May 4, workers blocked truck rotations on the Ntoum–Cocobeach road to voice their grievances. They claim Ebomaf Gabon's General Manager, Coulibaly Lassina, issued a directive to transfer them to Esdras Services under "high instructions" from the group's CEO, Mahamadou Bonkoungou, effectively reclassifying them as temporary workers without respecting Gabonese labor laws. The workers, some with over a year of service, report not receiving paid leave, 13th-month bonuses, or accident insurance. They also allege that social security contributions were deducted from their salaries but never remitted to the relevant social protection organizations. This situation comes as Ebomaf and its CEO face judicial scrutiny in Senegal over accounting irregularities. The Gabonese state had guaranteed the partnership, with President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema having presided over the financing agreement for the Ntoum-Cocobeach section in July 2025, which included a 100 billion FCFA loan from BGFI Bank. Workers are now calling on the state to ensure they are treated with dignity and in accordance with the law.
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