Gabon officers take control
MILITARY officers in oil-producing Gabon said they had seized power yesterday and put President Ali Bongo under house arrest, stepping in minutes after the Central African state’s election body announced he had won a third term.
The officers, who said they represented the armed forces, declared on television that the election results were cancelled, borders closed and state institutions dissolved, after a tense vote that was set to extend the Bongo family’s more than half century in power.
One of the officers, Brice Oligui Nguema, who in a video appeared to be hailed as their leader, said he and other generals would meet yesterday to select someone to head the transitional government.
Hundreds of people in the streets of the Gabonese capital Libreville celebrated the military’s intervention, while the AU and France, Gabon’s former colonial ruler which has troops stationed there, condemned the coup.
If successful, the Gabon coup would be the eighth in West and Central Africa since 2020.
The latest one, in Niger, was in July. Military officers have also seized power in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Chad, erasing democratic gains since the 1990s and raising fear among foreign powers that have strategic interests in the region.
“I am marching today because I am joyful. After almost 60 years, the Bongos are out of power,” said Jules Lebigui, a jobless 27-year-old who joined crowds in Libreville.
Bongo took over in 2009 on the death of his father Omar, who had ruled since 1967.
Opponents say the family have done little to share the state’s oil and mining wealth with its 2.3 million people.
Violent unrest broke out after Bongo’s disputed 2016 election victory and there was a foiled coup attempt in 2019.
The Gabon officers, calling themselves The Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions, said the country faced “a severe institutional,
political, economic and social crisis”, and that the August 26 vote was not credible.
They also said they had arrested the president’s son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, and others for corruption and treason.
Republican Guard chief Nguema said a leader had not been chosen but a meeting would be held yesterday to decide.
“Everyone will put forward ideas and the best ones will be chosen, as well as the name of the person who will lead the transition,” he said.
Television images showed a man who appeared to be Nguema held aloft by soldiers shouting “Oligui president”, using one of his names.
There was no immediate comment from Gabon’s government, and Bongo’s whereabouts could not be confirmed.
Bongo, 64, was last seen in public casting his vote on Saturday. Before the vote, he had been seen looking healthier than his more frail television
appearances after his 2018 stroke.
Unlike Niger, Gabon, which lies further south on the Atlantic coast, has not had to battle destabilising Islamist insurgencies. But the coup is a further sign of democratic backsliding in the volatile region.
A “contagion of autocracy” was spreading across the continent, said Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, the current chair of West African bloc Ecowas. He said he was working closely with other African leaders on how to respond in Gabon.
The AU condemned the events and called on the military to ensure the safety of Bongo and his family, while China and Russia said they hoped for a swift return to stability.
“We condemn the military coup and recall our commitment to free and transparent elections,” French government spokesman Olivier Veran said.
The coup creates more uncertainty for France’s presence in the region. France has about 350 troops in Gabon. Its forces have been kicked out of
Mali and Burkina Faso after coups there in the last two years. French miner Eramet ERMT.PA, which has large manganese operations in Gabon, said it had halted operations.
Gabon produces about 200 000 barrels of oil a day, mainly from depleting fields.
International companies include France’s Totalenergies and Anglofrench producer Perenco.
Concerns about the weekend election’s transparency were raised by a lack of international observers, the suspension of some foreign broadcasts and a decision to cut internet service and impose a night-time curfew after the vote. Bongo’s team rejected allegations of fraud. Yesterday, internet access appeared to be restored for the first time since the vote.
Shortly before the coup announcement, the election authority declared Bongo the election winner with 64.27% of the vote and said his main challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, had secured 30.77%.