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Less than a year after his election, Gabonese President Brice Oligui Nguema is facing a significant wave of social unrest as teachers and other civil servants launch strikes over stagnant wages.
While Oligui initially bought time after his 2023 coup by addressing immediate concerns, the public’s patience is thinning as promised improvements to living standards fail to materialise.
The core of the dispute is a decade-long wage freeze inherited from the former Bongo administration, which has left educators struggling against rising inflation on a starting salary of roughly $640 per month.
The discontent has now surged beyond schools, with workers in health, higher education, and public broadcasting threatening similar walkouts to protest “decades of mismanagement” and precarious working conditions.
The government’s response has been a mix of conciliation and pressure.
While officials called the strikers’ demands “legitimate,” the recent arrest and subsequent release of two key union leaders created a temporary climate of fear.
Analysts suggest the tension is a direct result of the high expectations Oligui set during his campaign, with union leaders now demanding he fulfil his specific pledge to end the civil service pay freeze.
