A wave of disparaging remarks targeting President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema of Gabon, his mother, and his wife has provoked a strong response from Hugues Ongoundou. In a particularly firm statement, Ongoundou clarifies that his condemnation is not an endorsement of the current administration or its policies. For him, the act of insulting a mother and grandmother, who remains outside the political arena, an spouse, or the parents of a public official, represents a grave transgression that extends beyond the individuals themselves. Denouncing what he terms “verbal degradation” and the increasing normalization of obscenity within Gabonese public discourse, Hugues Ongoundou insists on a clear distinction between the freedom to criticize and outright vulgarity. He also indicates his intention to explore legal avenues for addressing such statements.
The offensive comments directed at the Head of State’s mother—a woman of quiet dignity, without public controversy, and removed from political life—along with those aimed at his wife and the President himself, carry immense weight. I must admit, these remarks left me utterly astonished.
My concern here transcends politics. I am not here to defend a track record, an ideology, or any affiliation with those in power. I am speaking about something far more fundamental: the inherent dignity, core values, and the very soul of our nation.
More than just three individuals are being insulted.
When a mother and grandmother, unconnected to political rivalries, is dragged through the mud with vile language simply because she is the Head of State’s mother, a critical boundary has been breached.
When a woman, a spouse and the First Lady, becomes the target of obscene remarks, it is our collective moral compass that is under attack.
It is no longer just the Head of State, his mother, and his wife who are being insulted.
Symbolically, it is all our grandmothers, all our mothers, all our women, all our sisters, and all our daughters who are being demeaned.
It is the very image of our country that is tarnished.
It is our values that are eroding.
Ultimately, it represents a spiritual desertion of a people’s very essence.
And I choose my words carefully.
The symbol is greater than the individuals.
Within any nation, certain symbols transcend individual persons. The mother embodies transmission. The grandmother represents memory.
The woman constitutes an essential part of family and society. The father also represents this chain of transmission that connects generations.
When these foundational figures are publicly humiliated and reduced to objects of political insults, a part of our moral heritage is trampled upon.
It is the symbolic potency of our nation that is undermined.
Not in its vulgar sense, but in what it signifies: strength, uprightness, symbolic authority, and a people’s capacity to stand tall.
These deviations are symptoms of a suffering national body.
What has recently transpired should not be dismissed as mere missteps on social media platforms.
These transgressions are, in my view, symptoms of a national body that is ailing, suffering, and adrift. They reveal a gradual weakening of fundamental societal benchmarks.
There was a time when patriotism, respect for elders, consideration for parents, and a strong sense of honor were integral to civic education and intergenerational transmission.
Today, a portion of that crucial teaching appears to have vanished.
This marks the misfortune of virtue and the prosperity of vice.
We are witnessing a disturbing inversion: the one who hurls insults sometimes becomes a celebrity, the one who humiliates gains popularity, the provocateur garners more attention than the builder.
And when insult transforms into spectacle, when it becomes entertainment, when it evolves into media merchandise, it is virtue itself that ultimately gets relegated.
Every laugh, every normalization makes us collectively responsible.
I will go further.
Every Gabonese who finds amusement in such abhorrent statements, shares them for entertainment, or contributes to their dissemination, participates—whether intentionally or not—in their normalization.
Every citizen who accepts the transformation of political debate into an insult competition contributes to the erosion of our guiding principles. And each time we elevate insult to celebrity status, canonize the insulter, or promote them simply for making noise, we participate in the slow destruction of what should unite us.
We are all accountable when insult becomes entertainment. We are all accountable when it becomes a demand.
We are all accountable when those who insult become the most listened to voices. I am not here to curry favor.
I want to be unequivocally clear.
I am not here to appease those in power.
I am not seeking recognition.
I am not here to defend the Head of State against his political adversaries.
I am here to say STOP.
It is imperative to act against this verbal degradation that is progressively invading our public sphere.
Conversely, I wish to commend those Gabonese who challenge the President and his policies without crossing these fundamental lines.
Responsible opposition exists.
Men and women who can acknowledge what is done well and denounce what is not.
Citizens capable of contesting a policy with arguments, without insulting the mothers, fathers, spouses, or children of those they oppose.
This is the essence of true democratic debate. Activism is not synonymous with vulgarity.
Another misconception must also be dispelled. Being an activist does not grant carte blanche.
Being an opponent does not mean one can say anything. Being free does not equate to being irresponsible.
Activism is a form of civic engagement. It therefore presupposes civic responsibility.
One can denounce.
One can investigate.
One can challenge.
One can protest.
One can question.
One can even be extremely harsh in criticism.
But an obscene insult aimed at a mother or a wife is neither an argument, nor a display of courage, nor a demonstration of patriotism.
I have a father. I have a mother. And I am their son.
This statement is perhaps the simplest in this entire piece.
I have a father. I have a mother.
And being their son connects me to an upbringing, a history, a responsibility.
I understand the respect owed to those who gave us life.
I know what a mother represents.
I know what a father represents.
It is precisely this upbringing that compels me today to reject the normalization of this media monstrosity.
I cannot expect my children to respect their parents tomorrow if, today, I accept the public humiliation of parents as a spectacle.
I will take my share of responsibility.
In light of this situation, I will indeed assume my share of responsibility.
I will consult with legal counsel to examine existing legal avenues and the potential judicial actions that could be taken in response to such statements.
This initiative will be strictly personal.
I do not claim to speak on behalf of the Head of State, his family, his inner circle, or any institution.
I speak for myself.
As a Gabonese citizen. As a citizen. As a son.
I want to make it clear: my objective is not to stifle political criticism.
Quite the contrary.
I aspire for us to rediscover a political debate where intelligence, constructive disagreement, and responsibility progressively replace insult, obscenity, and humiliation.
We must choose between virtue and the normalization of vice.
Gabon cannot sustainably settle into this pattern.
A nation is not destroyed solely by economic or political crises.
It can also be destroyed by the gradual collapse of its moral benchmarks.
When insult becomes normal, verbal violence becomes acceptable.
When verbal violence becomes acceptable, humiliation becomes a spectacle.
When humiliation becomes a spectacle, those who produce it become celebrities.
And when those who dismantle values become society’s role models, national decline begins with a moral collapse.
I reject this grim inevitability.
I refuse to let our mothers become targets.
I refuse to let our women be used as instruments of political humiliation.
I refuse to let our fathers be insulted because their children hold positions of responsibility.
I refuse to let our children grow up in a society where vulgarity is rewarded more than virtue.
Enough is enough.
I do not ask anyone to love the President of the Republic.
I do not ask anyone to approve his policies.
I simply ask that we remain capable of respecting ourselves.
Because ultimately, when we insult the mother of another, we also insult the idea we hold of our own mother.
And when a people no longer protects its own values, it begins to lose its soul.
It is now up to each individual to assume their responsibilities.
As for me, I have chosen to assume mine.
Hugues Ongoundou
