The unrest in Africa continues. After Niger now Gabon, the oil-producing nation of Central Africa, is facing political turmoil. The military has seized power and placed President Ali Bongo Ondimba under house arrest. This came moments after results were announced of a 26 August election, which the Opposition declared fraudulent.
Announcing the coup on TV, senior military officers annulled the elections.
Brice Clothaire Oligui Nguema
, the commander-in-chief of the Gabonese Republican Guard, the country’s most powerful security unit, and a cousin of Bongo, has been declared the country’s new leader.
Gabon is the latest country in Africa to experience a
coup
in recent years. It started with Mali, then Chad, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso and most recently
Niger
. Like Gabon, some of these were former French colonies.
Here’s a guide to all that is going on in Gabon.
Why was there a coup in Gabon?
Gabon held elections on 26 August to elect its president. On Wednesday, 30 August, the country’s national electoral authority declared that Bongo was re-elected for the third time. He has been in power for 14 years and was first elected in 2009 after the death of his father Omar Bongo Ondimba, who had ruled the country for 41 years.
Ahead of the closure of polls, Bongo’s main opponent Albert Ondo Ossa claimed victory, calling the polls a “fraud orchestrated by the Bongo camp”.
However, the electoral authority announced Bongo as a clear winner with 64.27 per cent of the votes cast; Ossa got 30.77 per cent of the vote.
The coup leaders disagreed with the results. Soon after they were announced, a group of mutinous soldiers appeared on state TV, cancelling the results and “putting an end to the current regime” to “defend peace”. They said that the elections “did not meet the conditions for a transparent, credible and inclusive ballot so much hoped for by the people of Gabon”.
Also read: Gabon coup: A timeline of political upheaval in Africa since 2020 Who is behind the coup?
Nearly a dozen senior army officers announced the coup on Gabon24, the national TV, introducing themselves as members of The Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions and claiming that they represented all security and defence forces in the country. This group included army colonels, members of the elite Republican Guard, regular soldiers and others, reports news agency AFP.
Apart from annulling the elections, the military has closed all borders and dissolved institutions including “the government, the Senate, the National Assembly, the Constitutional Court, the Economic, Social and Environmental Council and the Gabonese Elections Centre”.
Brice Clothaire Oligui Nguema is said to be the ringleader of the coup, which took place in Libreville, the capital of Gabon. He was later named the country’s transitional leader.
Who is Brice Clothaire Oligui Nguema?
The son of a military officer, Nguema trained at the Royal Military Academy of Meknes, in Morocco. He served as an “aides-de-camp” to a commander in former President Omar Bongo’s Republican Guard until 2009, reports Al Jazeera.
After Omar Bongo’s death when Ali Bongo took over, Nguema was sent on diplomatic missions to Morocco and Senegal. Ten years later, he took over as head of the Republican Guard, which is responsible for the president’s security.
Today, Nguema is one of the most influential leaders in Gabon. He also has business interests in the country and is said to be a millionaire with properties in the United States, which were purchased with over $1 million in cash, the report says.
Talking about the coup, he told French daily Le Monde on Wednesday that Ali Bongo did not “have the right to serve a third term, as the “Constitution was violated” and “the method of the election itself was not good”. “So the army decided to turn the page, to take its responsibilities.”
He added that Ali Bongo can retire and continue to enjoy his rights like every other Gabonese citizen.
What do we know about Ali Bongo?
Bongo has been placed under house arrest since the coup. His family has held power in Gabon for 55 years. His father was the president from 1967 until he died in 2009, after which Ali took over.
The junior Bongo has ruled the country since but many believe he is successful only because of his family connections. In a report, Sky News quoted Burkina Faso newspaper L’Observateur Paalga as describing the leader as “a spoilt child, born in Congo-Brazzaville, brought up in France, hardly able to speak indigenous languages and with the appearance of a hip-hop star”.
Ali Bongo was born as Alain Bernard Bongo in February 1959. Both the father and son converted to Islam in 1973 and Alain became Ali. He served as defence and foreign minister before becoming president.
But beyond politics, Bongo is a colourful personality. He is a prominent Freemason and an avid football fan. He also released a funk music album in the 1970s, according to the BBC.
In October 2018, he suffered a stroke, which left him weakened. He was sidelined for almost a year and this led to growing calls that he should step down. But a defiant Bongo stood for a re-election, a decision, that has led to the ongoing crisis, the BBC report says.
How has Gabon reacted to the coup?
After soldiers took charge, loud sounds of gunfire could be heard in the city, reported news agencies.
Hundreds of people took to the streets and celebrated, welcoming the coup. In Libreville, images and videos shared on social media showed people cheering on the marching army convoys.
The Bongo dynasty ruled for more than five decades but the people did not benefit. The country is part of the Opec oil cartel and produces 181,000 barrels of crude a day, reports The Guardian. It has had opportunities to grow.
It has one of sub-Saharan Africa’s highest average year incomes, almost $9,000 (£7,000) in 2022, according to the World Bank, reports the BBC. Yet a third of its population lives in poverty. Years of corruption, mismanagement and political rigging by the Bongo family have brought suffering to the common man.
Gabon has been wanting a change and it matters little that it comes in the form of a coup. The images from the streets are proof.
Bongo, has been pleading the people of the country “to make noise”. But it looks like no one is listening.
With inputs from agencies
Source link : https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/gabon-coup-ali-bongo-ondimba-brice-oligui-nguema-africa-13061622.html/amp
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Publish date : 2023-08-31 03:00:00
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