‘Insightful and courageous’: Gabon activist Hervé Mombo Kinga dies of Covid

Celebrated blogger had suffered ill health after spending 17 months in prison for speaking out against president Ali Bongo

Herve Mombo Kinga, the pro-democracy activist and celebrated blogger who spent 17 months in jail for insulting the Gabonese president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, was not impressed when he saw the pictures of the leader limping up the stairs of France's presidential palace.

Kinga, who died last week at 47 after contracting Covid, was infuriated by the episode - widely shared in the west African country of Gabon, despite the embarrassment it caused the president, whose family has held power for more than five decades.