30th August, 2023
Military officers who toppled the 14 year old government of President Ali Bongo have named General Brice Oligui Nguema, as the new head of state.
The man toppled is now under house arrest in his palace, with his wife and son also detained in undisclosed locations.
Saying they represented the armed forces, the officers 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.
Within hours, generals met to discuss who would lead the transition and agreed by unanimous vote to appoint General Oligui Nguema, former head of the presidential guard, according to another televised address.
Nguema is also reported to be a cousin off Ali Bongo.
Meanwhile, from detention in his residence, Bongo appealed in a video statement to foreign allies, imploring them to speak out on his and his family’s behalf.
He said he did not know what was happening.
Bongo’s plight was a dramatic reversal from the early hours of Wednesday when the electoral commission declared him the winner of Saturday’s disputed vote.
Hundreds of people celebrated the military’s intervention in the streets of the Gabonese capital Libreville, while the United Nations, African Union and France, Gabon’s former colonial ruler which has troops stationed there, condemned the coup.
The military takeover in Gabon is the eighth in West and Central Africa since 2020, and the second – after Niger – in as many months.
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.