Paul Biyoghé Mba

Paul Biyoghé Mba (born 18 April 1953) is a Gabonese politician who was Prime Minister of Gabon from July 2009 to February 2012. A member of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), he served for years as a minister in the government prior to his appointment as Prime Minister. From 2012 to 2015, he was President of the Economic and Social Council of Gabon, and he has again served in the government as First Deputy Prime Minister for Health since 2015.

Background and political career Biyoghé Mba was born in Donguila, located in the Komo-Mondah Department of Gabon. After studying business administration at the University of Rennes in France, then Director of Credits at the Bank, Biyoghé Mba continued to serve as Deputy Director of the Presidential Cabinet until he entered the government as Minister of Trade, Consumption, and the Transfer of Technology in 1989. He remained Minister of State Control, Parastatal Reform and Privatization until he resigned from the government on 27 February 1994, accusing the government of "authoritarian drift" in the wake of riots in Libreville and Port-Gentil. He also left the PDG, founding the Common Development Movement (MCD), and he returned to his seat in the National Assembly, serving there again from 1994 to 1996. In 1997 he was elected to the newly established Senate, and he was Quaestor of the Senate from 1997 to 1999. The MCD merged itself into the PDG in November 2002.

Prime minister Following the death of President Omar Bongo on 8 June 2009, the PDG leadership selected his son, Defense Minister Ali-Ben Bongo, as its candidate for early presidential election scheduled for 30 August 2009. Jean Eyeghe Ndong, who had unsuccessfully sought the nomination, then resigned as Prime Minister on 17 July 2009 and announced he would stand as an independent candidate. Later on the same day, interim president Rose Francine Rogombé appointed Biyoghé Mba to succeed Eyeghe Ndong as Prime Minister. He was expected to take "the necessary time to hold consultations before forming his government".

Bongo won the election with a plurality of the vote according to official results, although the opposition alleged fraud; following a recount by the Constitutional Court, he was sworn in as President on 16 October 2009. Later in the day, he announced the reappointment of Biyoghé Mba as Prime Minister; he made the announcement personally "to underline the importance of this moment". According to Bongo, Biyoghé Mba had the necessary experience and managerial competence "to lead us through the next stage", and he said work would start "immediately". The composition of his new government was announced on 17 October; it was reduced to only 30 ministers, thereby fulfilling Bongo's campaign promise to reduce the size of the government and thereby reduce expenses. The government was also mostly composed of new faces, including many technocrats, although a few key ministers, such as Paul Toungui (Foreign Minister), Jean-François Ndongou (Interior Minister), and Laure Olga Gondjout (Communications Minister), retained their posts.

Following the December 2011 parliamentary election, Biyoghé Mba submitted his resignation in February 2012. President Bongo appointed Raymond Ndong Sima to succeed him on 27 February 2012. In late June 2012, Biyoghé Mba was appointed to a five-year term as President of the Economic and Social Council, a state institution tasked with providing advice on economic, social, and cultural matters. He was again appointed to the government as First Deputy Prime Minister for Health, Social Welfare and National Solidarity on 11 September 2015. His return to the government was viewed as a sign that Bongo wanted to appease senior figures in the PDG who were prominent under Bongo's father but had generally lost clout after Ali Bongo's succession,