Jacques Adiahénot

Jacques Adiahénot (born 11 May 1944 ) is a Gabonese politician. He was Secretary-General of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) from 1991 to 1994 and subsequently served as a minister in the government of Gabon from 1994 to 2009.

Political career Adiahénot was born in Libreville and worked as Director of Presidential Press from 1970 to 1976 before going to Paris as the First Counsellor for Information at the Gabonese Embassy to France from 1976 to 1978. Subsequently he was Director-General of Channel 1 at Gabonese Television Broadcasting (RTG) from 1978 to 1989. Strikes by students and workers in early 1990 pressured Bongo into holding a National Conference, with opposition participation, in March–April 1990. As a result of the National Conference, Bongo stepped down from the leadership of the ruling PDG and the existence of other political parties was legalized. Bongo's control of the PDG, which had been the only legal political party since its creation in 1968, had been a key feature of his rule up to that point. The party leadership was then turned over to Adiahénot, who served as Executive Political Secretary of the PDG from 1990 to 1991; subsequently he was Secretary-General of the PDG from 1991 to 1994. He was elected to the National Assembly in the December 1996 parliamentary election as a PDG candidate in Libreville;

On 25 January 1999, Adiahénot was appointed as Minister of State for Tourism, the Environment, and the Protection of Nature, but his portfolio and ministerial rank were quickly changed on 10 February 1999, when he was appointed as Minister of Housing, the Land-Survey Register, and Urban Affairs. In the December 2001 parliamentary election, he was again elected to the National Assembly as a PDG candidate in Libreville; after the election, he retained his post in the government. His ministerial portfolio was modified on 21 January 2006, when he was appointed as Minister of State for Housing, Urban Planning, and Topographical Work. subsequently his portfolio was modified on 25 January 2007, when he was appointed as Minister of State for Housing, Lodgings, and Urban Planning. He was then moved to the post of Minister of the Merchant Marine and Port Equipment (without the rank of Minister of State) on 29 December 2007. Having seen his influence within the PDG markedly reduced by Omar Bongo's death and Ali Bongo's election,

Adiahénot, who had led the PDG through its most difficult period in the early 1990s, was reported to have quit the ruling party in March 2010. That purported decision was not considered surprising;

Four years later, in March 2014, Adiahénot held a press conference to announce his resignation from the PDG.