Jean Ping is the opposition leader in Gabon. He lost to President Ali Ondimba Bongo in the presidential election held on August 27, 2016, whose results were hotly disputed.
The dispute threw the West African nation into violence that started with the burning of the National Assembly building in Libreville, the capital city.
Below are things you need to know about Ping.
Sources; Al Jazeera, Quartz Africa, Africa Confidential, New Straits Times, Daily Mail, Voice of America
His father, Cheng Zhiping was a Chinese businessman based in the West African country. Before he moved to the West African nation, Zhiping had worked in a Peugeot bicycle factory in France.
Jean Ping had two children with Pascaline Ondimba, the eldest daughter to the late Omar Bongo. He was married to another lady at the time of the extra-marital affair. The late Gabonese strongman was also instrumental in championing Ping’s election as the African Union Commission chairman in 2008.
He got the nickname Mao because of his Chinese roots.
Ping is a career diplomat who has served in both the African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN). He is the immediate former chairman of the AU Commission, from April 28, 2008 to October 15, 2012. Before his tenure in the pan-African body, Ping was the president of the UN General Assembly, from 2004 to 2005. He was the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs under the late Omar Bongo, from January 1999 to 2008.
Jean Ping’s declaration to contest the presidency in Gabon drew excitement from people in his late father’s home region of Zhejiang, in China. They used the Chinese Weibo, a social media platform to rally support for him.
Ping is a tough-talking politician who has not hidden his contempt for Bongo’s dynasty in Gabon. He once described Gabon as a titanic headed for the iceberg in the hands of a clan (Bongos). Ping has severally described the Bongo family rule as dictatorship. In March 2016, he also likened Ali Bongo’s regime to cockroaches.
Ping was baptized when he was a month old. This was his mother’s (she was a staunch christian) wish before she died.
In 1987, Ping visited his late father’s hometown of Wenzhou. He did it to honor his father’s wish.
In January 2015, Ping was charged with unlawfully imprisoning and torturing about 200 youths who had attacked his private residence. He sensationally claimed the youths had been sent by people close to President Ali Bongo.
During his tenure at the helm of African Union Commission, Ping outlined his diplomatic ties internationally by securing $200 million from China to construct the new headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.