•Bongo’s son, others detained for treason, corruption
•Tinubu, AU, other world leaders rise against Bongo’s ouster
•Detained president urges citizens to protest
By Emma Emeozor and Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye with agency reports
The epidemic of military coups sweeping across Africa yesterday, hit the Central African oil-producing nation, Gabon, following the announcement by army officers that they have ousted President Ali Bongo and put him and some members of his family under house arrest.
The Gabon junta named General Brice Oligui Nguema, leader of the elite Republican Guard and a relative of the ousted president, as transition leader, soldiers said on national television.
Earlier, Nguema had commented on the fate of Bongo. He said, “He is a Gabonese head of state. He is retired, he enjoys all his rights. He is a normal Gabonese, like everyone else.” Bongo himself said he is under house arrest at his home in the capital Libreville, and he called on citizens to “make noise” after the coup attempt.
The signs of a coup in Gabon came just weeks after members of the presidential guard in Niger seized power and established a junta. President Bongo took over power in 2009 from his father Omar, who had ruled the country since 1967. The officers also said they had arrested the president’s son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, and others for corruption and treason.
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.
The military junta stepped in minutes after the Central African state’s election body announced he had won a third term. The officers, calling themselves The Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions, said the country faced “a severe institutional, political, economic, and social crisis”. They said the August 26 vote was not credible.
The officers who said they represented the armed forces declared on television that the election results were cancelled, borders were closed and state institutions were dissolved, after a tense vote that was set to extend the Bongo family’s more than half century in power.
Meanwhile, Bongo yesterday appeared in a video that was circulated on social media, calling for support from “friends all over the world” after being placed under house arrest.
A company working for the presidency told the BBC that the video of the president speaking is authentic. The ousted leader was sitting in what he called his residence, a grand room complete with wood-panelled walls, ornate carpets and leather-bound books.
Opponents said the family has done little to share the state’s oil and mining wealth with its 2.3 million people. Violent unrest had broken out after Bongo’s disputed 2016 election win and there was a foiled coup attempt in 2019.
Nguema, who had earlier appeared in a video and hailed as their leader, told French newspaper Le Monde that he and other generals would meet (yesterday) to select someone to head the transitional government. Yesterday, internet access appeared to be restored for the first time since the vote.
“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.
Hundreds of people on the streets of the Gabonese capital celebrated the military’s intervention, while France, Gabon’s former colonial ruler which has troops stationed in the African nation, condemned the coup.
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.
“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.
Unlike Niger and other Sahel countries, 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.
“With the coup leaders claiming to represent all factions of Gabon’s security apparatus, Mr Bongo is not expected to be able to suppress the uprising,” wrote Rukmini Sanyal, an analyst at Economist Intelligence Unit, citing “widespread public discontent” against Bongo, his family and his ruling party.
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 Saturday’s election had raised concerns about the vote’s transparency. Bongo’s team rejected allegations of fraud.
Shortly before the coup announcement, the election authority had declared Bongo the election winner with 64.27% of the vote and said his main challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, had secured 30.77%. Gabon’s dollar-denominated bonds fell as much as 14 cents yesterday before recovering around 2 cents of the losses
…Tinubu, AU, other world
leaders react
Meanwhile, governments across the world have been reacting to the coup in the Central Federal Government spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale said: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is watching developments in Gabon very closely with deep concern for the country’s socio-political stability and the seeming autocratic contagion apparently spreading across different regions of our beloved continent. The President is working very closely and continuing to communicate with other heads of state in the African Union toward a comprehensive consensus on the next steps forward.”
The African Union yesterday made a cautious reaction. In a statement, the AU said: “The Chairperson of the AU Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, is following with great concern the situation in the Gabonese Republic and strongly condemns the attempted coup d’etat in the country as a way out of its current post-electoral crisis.
“He calls on the national army and the security forces … to guarantee the personal safety of the President of the Republic, the members of his family and those of his government.” France, colonial master of Gabon yesterday condemned the coup. French government spokesman Olivier Veran said: “We condemn the military coup and recall our commitment to free and transparent elections,”
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.
In its reaction, European Union Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell speaking at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Toledo yesterday, said that a coup in Gabon, if confirmed, would heap more instability on the region. He said EU defence ministers are to discuss the situation in Gabon.
“If this is confirmed, it is another military coup which increases instability in the whole region,” he said. “The whole area, starting with Central African Republic, then Mali, then Burkina Faso, now Niger, maybe Gabon, it’s in a very difficult situation and certainly the ministers … have to have a deep thought on what is going on there and how we can improve our policy in respect with these countries,” he said. “This is a big issue for Europe,” he added.
China called for dialogue and the safety of Bongo. In a statement, Benjing said: “China closely follows the development of the situation in Gabon and calls on relevant parties in Gabon to focus on the fundamental interests of the country and the people, resolve differences peacefully through dialogue, and restore normal order as soon as possible. And also ensure the personal safety of President Bongo, maintain national peace, stability, and overall development.”
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova said: “Moscow has received with concern reports of a sharp deterioration in the internal situation in the friendly African country. We continue to closely monitor the development of the situation and hope for its speedy stabilisation.”
Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland said: “It is deeply concerning to hear reports of an illegal takeover of power in Gabon. The Commonwealth Charter is clear that member states must uphold the rule of law and the principles of democracy at all times and the Commonwealth Secretariat will be keenly monitoring the situation.”