LIBREVILLE, Gabon: Army officers who staged a coup in Gabon on Wednesday have named General Brice Oligui Nguema as the West African state’s transitional leader.
Gen Nguema was earlier carried triumphally through the capital streets by his troops. On the other hand, Ali Bongo, the deposed President, has appeared in a video at his home, calling on his “friends all over the world” to “make noise” on his behalf.
Gabon, the former French colony is one of Africa’s major oil producers. Mr Bongo’s overthrow ended his family’s 55-year stay on power. In the early hours of Wednesday, the army officers appeared on TV to announce they had taken power.
They said they had annulled the Saturday election results in which Mr Bongo was declared the winner but the opposition said the polls vote was fraudulent. The officers also said they had arrested one of Bongo’s sons over treason charges.
Omar Bongo ruled Gabon for 42 years. His son Ali Bongo took over and ruled for 14 years.
Now he is asking the world to support him after he rigged an election and the military staged a coup.
To hell with him. I wish this upon all these African dictators including Mnangagwa pic.twitter.com/IrkZvo70Ui
— Africa Research Desk (@MightiJamie) August 30, 2023
Ali Bongo calls on supporters to “make noise” while sitting in what he calls his residence.
Within hours of the coup, the generals met to discuss who would lead the transition and agreed by a unanimous vote to appoint former head of the presidential guard, Gen Nguema. Crowds in Libreville and elsewhere celebrated the army’s announcement.
However, the coup was condemned by the UN, the African Union (AU) and France, which had close ties to the Bongo family.
The US state department urged Gabon’s military to “preserve civilian rule” and urged “those responsible to release and ensure the safety of members of government”. The UK condemned the “unconstitutional military takeover” of power.
The Bongo family ruled Gabon for 55 years and there has been public discontent over issues such as the cost of living. “At first I was scared, but then I felt joy,” a resident of Libreville, who requested anonymity, told the BBC. “I was scared because of the realisation that I am living through a coup, but the joy is because we’ve been waiting for so long for this regime to be overthrown.”
Gabon is a country rich in oil and minerals on the west coast of Central Africa, with a population of just 2.4 million.
Ali Bongo was declared the winner of Saturday’s disputed polls and has been president since 2009. Before that, his father was in power for 41 years.
As in previous general elections, there were serious concerns about the process in Saturday’s vote with main opposition candidate Albert Ondo Ossa complained that many polling stations had lacked ballot papers bearing his name. The coalition he represented said the names of some of those who had withdrawn from the presidential race had still been on the ballot sheet.
Both of Mr Bongo’s previous wins were challenged as fraudulent by opponents. This time, controversial changes were made to ballot papers just weeks before election day.
