Another Coup In Africa As Gabon Military Announces Power Seizure
Following the announcement that President Ali Bongo had won a third term, a group of senior Gabonese military officers appeared on national television early Wednesday morning and declared that they had seized power.
Officers who appeared on Gabon 24 stated that they represented all security and defense elements in the Central African nation.
They announced that the election results were void, all borders were closed until further notice, and all state institutions were dissolved.
After the television appearance, a correspondent for Reuters said that gunfire could be heard in the capital city of Libreville.
There was no obvious response from the OPEC nation’s government.
“In the name of the Gabonese people… we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” the officers stated.
The coup, if successful, would be the ninth in West and Central Africa since 2020. In recent years, coups in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Niger have undermined democratic progress.
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The military seized power in Niger last month, sending shockwaves throughout the Sahel and luring global powers with strategic interests at stake.
Tensions were high in Gabon as a result of fears of unrest following Saturday’s presidential, parliamentary, and legislative elections, in which Bongo sought to extend his family’s 56-year hold on power while the opposition pressed for change in the oil- and cocoa-rich but impoverished nation.
The lack of international observers, the suspension of certain foreign broadcasts, and the authorities’ decision to shut down the internet and impose a nationwide curfew after the election had raised concerns about the electoral process transparency.
Bongo, 64, who succeeded his father Omar as president in 2009, faced 18 opponents, six of whom supported a joint nominee, former minister, and university professor Albert Ondo Ossa, in an attempt to limit the field. Team Bongo denied allegations of deception.
In 2016, violent street demonstrations against Bongo’s contested re-election to a second term destroyed the parliament building. At the time, the government blocked internet access for several days.
Another Coup In Africa As Gabon Military Announces Power Seizure
