Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda has been appointed Vice President of Gabon on Monday, January 9 by Gabonese President Ali Bongo. She has been replaced as Prime Minister by Alain Claude Bilie By Nze.
Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda becomes the first woman to be appointed to this position, after being the first woman Prime Minister of Gabon, a position she held prior to her appointment; the second woman Minister of Defense of the country and the first woman Mayor of Libreville, the capital of Gabon.
The position of vice president had been vacant since May 2019, after the dismissal of opposition politician Pierre Claver Maganga Moussavou. Gabon’s vice president is appointed by the head of state, whom he can dismiss at any time. The position had been abolished from 2009 to 2017. The vice president is responsible for assisting the head of state in his duties, but does not act as interim president in case of a power vacuum.
Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda, 59, was appointed Prime Minister of Gabon on July 16, 2020. Prior to her appointment, she was Minister of National Defense and Homeland Security.
A specialist in public finance, Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda holds a degree in economics, with a specialization in public finance from the Gabonese Institute of Economics and Finance. She was Director General of the Economy and Deputy Director General of the Banque de l’Habitat du Gabon. In February 2012, she was appointed Minister of Budget, Public Accounts and Civil Service in the government led by former Gabonese Prime Minister Raymond Ndong Sima.
On February 7, 2014, she became the first woman elected mayor of Libreville, on behalf of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG).
In 2018, Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda was also the first woman elected President of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa ), the umbrella organization of African local governments founded in 2005 in the city the city of Tshwane in South Africa.
