Furthermore Mohamed's AU bid was a long shot: it was almost certain that the membership especially the Francophones – still smarting from a bruising battle four years earlier when Gabon's Jean Ping had been narrowly defeated – would not entertain two consecutive Anglophone bids for the top AU post...

Ping's PRGabonese opposition leader and former Foreign Minister Jean Ping signed short-term contracts worth $115 000 with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP and CD Global Strategies Group (owned by Hearst Group) last summer before his unsuccessful election challenge to President Ali Ben Bongo Ondimba (AC Vol 58 No 2 Vote row threatens economy)...

Off the pitch opposition leader Jean Ping maintained a vow of silence until deep into the tournament while younger activists pressed for a return to the streets...

New Prime Minister Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet installed in September with a mandate to facilitate a more inclusive government told AC that the dialogue could offer protection to Jean Ping's son Franck Ping who has faced allegations of receiving commissions for helping Chinese construction company Sinohydro to secure contracts (AC Vol 57 No 17 Bongo's sure bet)...

Dlamini-Zuma's checkered legacy Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's defeat of the incumbent African Union Commission chairperson Gabonese politician Jean Ping in 2012 was a bitter fight involving strenuous lobbying behind the scenes by influential members...

Prominent among them are the former Foreign Minister and African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping; the former Speaker of Parliament Guy Nzouba Ndama; and Casimir Oyé Mba...

For example a former critic of the Court Gabonese politician Jean Ping a former Foreign Minister who is now in opposition has switched sides and is lobbying for the ICC to launch an investigation in his country...

Their support ensured that in 2012 Gabon's Jean Ping was able to force a split vote that delayed his replacement by Dlamini-Zuma by six months...

His rival Jean Ping claims to have been defrauded of victory even in Bongo's home province of Haut-Ogooué but the former African Union Commission Chairperson's years of international diplomacy have been of little use in the current conflict (AC Vol 57 No 18 Bongo's incredible win)...

Early results showed that the main challenger Jean Ping had won the larger share of the vote winning in six of nine provinces including the largest Estuaire where roughly half the population lives...