Mutinous troopers in Gabon mentioned on Wednesday they had been seizing energy with a purpose to overturn the outcomes of a presidential election, searching for to take away a president whose household has held energy for 55 years.
The coup try got here hours after the central African nation’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba, 64, was declared winner of an election marred by fears of violence. Inside minutes of the announcement, gunfire was heard within the centre of the capital, Libreville.
A dozen uniformed troopers appeared on state tv later the identical morning and introduced that they’d seized energy.
The troopers supposed to dissolve all establishments of the republic, mentioned a spokesman for the group, whose members had been drawn from the gendarme, the republican guard and different components of the safety forces.
The state of affairs within the capital wasn’t instantly clear, and there was no phrase from the president.
The non-public intelligence agency Ambrey mentioned all operations on the nation’s predominant port in Libreville had been halted, with authorities refusing to grant permission for vessels to go away. It wasn’t instantly clear if airways had been working within the nation.
The coup try took place one month after mutinous troopers in Niger seized energy from the democratically elected authorities, and is the newest in a collection of coups which have challenged governments with ties to France, the area’s former coloniser.
Gabon’s coup, if profitable would convey the variety of coups in West and Central Africa to eight since 2020.
In his annual Independence Day speech August 17, Bongo mentioned Whereas our continent has been shaken in latest weeks by violent crises, relaxation assured that I’ll by no means permit you and our nation Gabon to be hostages to makes an attempt at destabilisation. By no means.
In contrast to Niger and two different West African international locations run by navy juntas, Gabon hasn’t been wracked by jihadi violence and had been seen as comparatively steady. However practically 40 per cent of Gabonese ages 15-24 had been out of labor in 2020, in keeping with the World Financial institution.
Gabon is a member of the OPEC oil cartel, with a manufacturing of some 181,000 barrels of crude a day, making it the eighth-largest producer of oil in sub-Saharan Africa. It’s dwelling to over 2 million folks, and is barely smaller than the US state of Colorado.
At a time when anti-France sentiment is spreading in lots of former colonies, the French-educated Bongo met President Emmanuel Macron in Paris in late June and shared images of them shaking palms. France has some 400 troops in within the nation.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne mentioned Wednesday: We’re following the state of affairs in Gabon carefully. The mutinous officers vowed to respect Gabon’s commitments to the nationwide and worldwide group.
When requested about Gabon Wednesday, the EU’s high diplomat, Josep Borrell mentioned it could be mentioned by EU ministers this week.
Defence ministers from the 27-nation bloc are assembly in Spain on Wednesday, and overseas ministers on Thursday. Borrell will chair each conferences, and Niger may also be a spotlight. If that is confirmed, it is one other navy coup, which will increase instability in the entire area, he mentioned.
Bongo’s household has long-standing ties to former colonial ruler France, courting to the four-decade presidency of his late father Omar Bongo. These have come underneath authorized scrutiny lately.
A number of members of the Bongo household are underneath investigation in France, and a few have been given preliminary expenses of embezzlement, cash laundering and different types of corruption, in keeping with French media stories, pushed partly by a broader push for justice by non-governmental organisations which have lengthy accused a number of African heads of state of embezzling public funds and hiding them in France.
Bongo was searching for a 3rd time period in elections this weekend. he served two phrases since coming to energy in 2009 after the dying of his father who dominated the nation for 41 years.
One other group of mutinous troopers tried a coup in January 2019, whereas Bongo was in Morocco recovering from a stroke, however they had been rapidly overpowered.
Within the election, Bongo confronted an opposition coalition led by economics professor and former training minister Albert Ondo Ossa, whose shock nomination got here every week earlier than the vote. Each vote held in Gabon because the nation’s return to a multi-party system in 1990 has led to violence.
Clashes between authorities forces and protesters following the 2016 election killed 4 folks, in keeping with official figures. The opposition mentioned the dying toll was far greater.
Fearing violence, many individuals within the capital went to go to household in different elements of the nation earlier than the election or left Gabon altogether. Others stockpiled meals or bolstered safety of their properties.
After final week’s vote, the Central African nation’s Communications Minister, Rodrigue Mboumba Bissawou, introduced a nightly curfew from 7 pm to six am, and mentioned web entry was being restricted indefinitely to quell disinformation and requires violence.
NetBlocks, an organisation monitoring web entry worldwide, mentioned web service noticed a partial restoration in Gabon after the coup.