LIBREVILLE: Military officers in Gabon said they had seized power on Wednesday, placing President Ali Bongo under house arrest and naming a new leader after the Central African state’s election body announced Bongo had won a third term.
While 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 Brice Oligui Nguema, former head of the presidential guard.
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.
Bongo took over in 2009 on the death of his father Omar, who had ruled since 1967. Violent unrest broke out after Bongo’s contested 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 Aug. 26 vote was not credible.
They also said they had arrested the president’s son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, and others for corruption and treason.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, the current chair of West African bloc ECOWAS, said he was working closely with other African leaders on how to respond in Gabon.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the African Union 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. The United States said the situation was deeply concerning.
“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 Erametwhich 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 Total Energies and Anglo-French producer Perenco.
