A gaggle of senior army officers appeared on tv within the oil-rich Central African nation of Gabon early Wednesday and introduced they had been seizing energy, hours after the incumbent president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, was declared to have received a 3rd time period in workplace.
The officers, who claimed to symbolize the foremost arms of the safety forces, stated they had been canceling the outcomes of the latest election, suspending the federal government and shutting the nation’s borders till additional discover.
There was no fast response from Mr. Bongo or the federal government. Bursts of gunfire might be heard within the capital, Libreville, shortly after the printed ended, Reuters reported.
“We’ve determined to defend the peace by placing an finish to the present regime,” one of many officers stated on the Gabon 24 station. If it succeeds, the coup could be the newest in a rare run of army takeovers in Western and Central Africa — at the least 9 up to now three years, together with one in Niger final month.
Lots of the earlier takeovers occurred in international locations that had been destabilized by rebel violence, like Mali and Burkina Faso, or by intramilitary tensions, like Sudan. In Gabon, the coup appeared to be pushed by anger towards considered one of Africa’s most enduring political dynasties.
The Bongos have dominated Gabon, a rustic of two.3 million folks on Africa’s Atlantic coast, for over half a century. Mr. Bongo, 64, was about to start his third time period since turning into president in 2009. He took over from his father, Omar Bongo, who had been in energy since 1967.
The voting final weekend was tense, with loud opposition claims of rigging and fears that, as in lots of earlier elections in Gabon, it could finish in violence. Many individuals had left the capital for the weekend, fearing hassle. After the polls closed, the federal government imposed a nightly curfew and restricted web entry.
Early Wednesday, the nationwide electoral authority declared Mr. Bongo the winner with 65 p.c of the vote. It stated his primary rival, Albert Ondo Ossa, obtained 31 p.c.
Hours later, the mutinous officers, calling themselves the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Establishments, appeared on nationwide tv, asserting they had been “placing an finish to the regime.”
Denouncing what they referred to as “irresponsible and unpredictable governance,” a spokesman stated that Mr. Bongo’s rule “ran the chance of main the nation into chaos.”
“Folks of Gabon, we’re lastly on the highway to happiness,” he stated.
However the assertion supplied few clues concerning the identities of the group, its degree of help throughout the army, or its intentions for a rustic that’s the fourth-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa.
The coup might be a brand new blow to French affect in Africa. Gabon is a former French colony; Mr. Bongo, who was educated in France, met with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris in June.
France has been grappling with a wave of anti-French sentiment throughout a number of former colonies, together with Mali and Burkina Faso, the place it has been pressured to withdraw 1000’s of troopers who had been serving to to battle Islamist militants.
Practically 90 p.c of Gabon is roofed in rainforest — an asset Mr. Bongo’s authorities has been making an attempt to monetize by promoting carbon credit probably price billions of {dollars} to overseas companies and governments.
Regardless of these riches, although, poverty is endemic in Gabon. Practically 40 p.c of Gabonese aged between 15 and 24 are unemployed, in accordance with the World Financial institution.
