President Oligui Nguema confronts SEEG agents over service failures and alleged sabotage
via Gabon Review4 min read
President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema held a nearly three-hour meeting with agents of the Société d’énergie et d’eau du Gabon SEEG at the Jean Violas Skills Center in Owendo. The President addressed the agents directly, accusing them of internal "sabotage" and dismissing rumors of arrests that had circulated earlier in the day. The meeting followed a request for dialogue from the National Union of Water and Electricity Sector Workers SYNTEE+. Earlier, the presence of security forces around SEEG sites in Libreville led to speculation of arrests, but it was later clarified that the forces were there to transport agents to the meeting. President Oligui Nguema stated he had asked generals to gather the agents "politely, discreetly" for a free exchange, choosing the training center over the palace to emphasize a return to fundamentals. During the exchange, President Oligui Nguema highlighted 35 billion CFA francs invested since August 30 in generators and transformers, expressing dismay that imported equipment remained unused. He criticized alleged technical errors, such as confusing water and diesel, and attributed degraded transformers to internal issues rather than external factors. He directly told the agents, "You are the problem. It's not me." Agents, in turn, acknowledged long-standing dysfunctions and the need for collective mobilization and a change in managerial culture for SEEG's recovery. The President also strongly criticized water shortages, linking them to an inter
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by Gabon Review.
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