As Defence Minister, Ali Ben Bongo has brought in a new Chief of Army Staff, Colonel Major Jean-Claude Ella Ekogha, and a new head of the Conseil National de Sécurité, Col. Maj. Jean-Philippe Ntumpa Lebani. Before his father left for Spain, Ali Ben was trying to assert himself as the natural replacement and to end rumours that have dogged him. Panned for being 'Nigerian', he had his mother, Marie-Josephine (now singing under the name Patience Dabany), attest to his pedigree, saying he was born in Brazzaville in 1959, with photos to prove it.
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