Pres. Sirleaf congratulates Gabon on Independence
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has sent a message of congratulations to her colleague, the President of the Republic of Gabon, Mr. Ali Bongo Ondimba, on that country’s 57th Independence Anniversary on August 17, 2017.
The Gabonese Republic celebrates its Independence Day on August 17. This national holiday commemorates the independence of Gabon from France in 1960. Its colonization began in the first half of the 19th century, when France signed treaties with local tribal chiefs and established a protectorate over the coastal area. The French officially occupied the entire territory of Gabon in 1885.
In 1910, Gabon became one of the four territories comprising French Equatorial Africa, along with French Congo, Chad and Ubangi-Shari (now the Central African Republic). When French Equatorial Africa was dissolved in the late 1950s, France agreed to give Gabon complete independence. Gabon became an independent country on August 17, 1960.
A Foreign Ministry release said, President Sirleaf, on behalf of the Government and people of Liberia and in her own name, extended heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to President Ondimba, and through him the Government and people of the Republic of Gabon on the occasion of its 57th Independence Anniversary.
“As we join you and your compatriots in observing this momentous occasion, it is my fervent prayer that the bonds of friendship and cooperation so happily subsisting between our two countries in the spirit of bilateral ties and cooperation will be strengthened in furtherance of the principles of promoting international peace and security among all nations,” the Liberian leader said. She prayed that the Almighty God will continue to endow Mr. Ondimba with abundant wisdom and strength as he leads his people to greater heights. –Press release
