In Bongo’s visit, a trade-by-batter

A red carpet was rolled out for the Gabonese president-elect in Yaounde Friday as he began a diplomatic offensive following a contested election. President Paul Biya personally received Ali Bongo at the Yaounde airport. That treatment is reserved only for heads of states and persons ranking as such and showed Yaounde’s full acceptance of the outcome of the Gabonese poll.

We can’t afford Biya's lavishness, simple

As I write no one is challenging the facts. President Paul Biya is currently spending more than 27 million francs a night in hotels bills in La Baule, France, where he is on holiday with his wife Chantal. In all, the president is paying for 43 rooms, spread across two luxury hotels: L'Hermitage (5 stars) and Le Royal (4 stars). At the end of the president's three-week holiday, which includes a crowd of about 40 officials, personal staff and bodyguards, the total bill would have reached about half a billion francs. The math excludes restoration, shopping and possibly casino expenses. According to one French analyst, this is more than the holiday bills of Presidents Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy and George Bush put together.