A dozen of mutinous soldiers Wednesday morning, appeared on Gabonese national television, announcing the cancellation of recent election results and the dissolution of “all the institutions of the republic”.
The announcement came after President Ali Bongo Ondimba, 64, was re-elected for a third term, in an election the opposition described as a ‘fraud orchestrated’ by the ruling party.
The Bongo family, one of Africa’s most powerful dynasties, has been in power since 1967.
The president has confirmed he is under house arrest and called for help, urging citizens to ‘make noise’.
There have been scenes of celebration in the Gabonese capital, Libreville since the military takeover.
Generals meeting behind closed doors to decide Gabon transition
Army Generals in the embattled country, it was gathered, will meet behind closed doors to decide who should lead the transition after military officers said they seized power.
Shares in French miner Eramet sink after it suspends Gabon operations
Shares in the French miner Eramet are sharply lower after it suspended all operations in Gabon during the coup.
Eramet’s mines in Gabon make it the world’s largest producer of high-grade manganese ore for steelmaking.
“In view of the events under way in Gabon and as a precautionary measure, the group has activated procedures to ensure the security of its staff and the integrity of its operations,” a spokesperson for Eramet, Gabon’s largest private employer, told Reuters.
White House says US deeply concerned by Gabon situation
The United States is deeply concerned by events in Gabon, where military officers said they had seized power, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told a briefing.
“We’re following this very, very closely,” he said. “It’s deeply concerning to us … we will remain a supporter of people in the region and supporter of the people in Gabon.”
Gabon coup leaders to meet and decide Bongo fate, new leader
Brice Nguema, suspected ringleader of Wednesday’s coup in Gabon has said the mutinous soldiers are meeting at 14:00 GMT to decide the new leader of the Central African country.
The leader of the elite Republican Guard and a relative to President Ali Bongo, was speaking in an interview to French daily Le Monde.
Nigeria’s president working with African leaders on way forward over Gabon coup attempt
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, the current chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is working closely with other African heads of state on how to respond to an attempted coup in Gabon, his spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale has said.
Tinubu is watching developments in Gabon and the “autocratic contagion” spreading across the continent “with deep concern”, the spokesperson said.
Who is Brice Oligui Nguema, suspected coup leader in Gabon?
Minutes after Gabon’s electoral commission said Bongo had won a third term as president, senior military officers announced a coup and annulled the election result.
According to local media, Brice Oligui Nguema, the commander-in-chief of the Gabonese Republican Guard, the country’s most powerful security unit, is the coup ringleader.
Coup leader says Bongo will ‘enjoy all his rights’
Speaking to the French newspaper Le Monde, coup leader Brice Oligui Nguema says the president will “enjoy all his rights” after the military announced it has placed him under house arrest.
“He is a Gabonese head of state. He is retired. He enjoys all his rights. He is a normal Gabonese, like everyone else,” Nguema said.
Nguema will not confirm whether he will declare himself the new president of the West African country.
“I do not declare myself yet. I do not envisage anything for the moment,” he said.
“This is a debate that we are going to have with all the generals. We will meet at 2pm [13:00 GMT]. It will be about reaching a consensus. Everyone will put forward ideas, and the best ones will be chosen as well as the name of the person who will lead the transition,” he added.
France says Gabon election result should be respected
French government spokesman Olivier Veran says Paris condemns the coup in Gabon and wants the election result to be respected.
Earlier, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said France is following events in Gabon “with the greatest attention”.
On Monday, President Emmanuel Macron denounced what he called an “epidemic” of coups in recent years in French-speaking Africa, from Mali and Burkina Faso to Guinea and most recently Niger.
Paris maintains a military presence in many of its former colonial territories, including Gabon, where it has 370 soldiers permanently deployed, some in the capital, Libreville, according to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces website.
Coup leaders say President Bongo under house arrest
Gabon’s coup leaders say President Ali Bongo Ondimba is under house arrest and one of his sons has been arrested for “treason”.
“President Ali Bongo is under house arrest, surrounded by his family and doctors,” they said in a statement read out on state TV.
Bongo’s son and close adviser Noureddin Bongo Valentin, his chief of staff Ian Ghislain Ngoulou as well as his deputy, two other presidential advisers and the two top officials in the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) “have been arrested”, a military leader said.
They are accused of treason, embezzlement, corruption and falsifying the president’s signature, among other allegations, he said.
In the past France would have intervened’
France is unlikely to send its military to intervene in its former colony, Tara O’Connor, executive director of Africa Risk Consulting, told Al Jazeera from Bordeaux.
“I think what is very clear is that dynastic politics are extremely unpopular across West Africa. But I do think this is opportunistic on the part of the military officers following the military coups that have taken place, successfully it has to be said, in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, which are all neighbouring countries and with whom the military leadership will have relations,” O’Connor said.
“Gabon is yet another country that was formerly a dictatorship under Ali Bongo’s father. It actually moved towards democracy and has had relatively successful and peaceful elections. But I think much more interesting is its position in relation to France,” she said.
“In the past, France would have intervened with its military. But France has modernised its foreign policy towards Africa and now would only intervene at the invitation of says ECOWAS or any of the regional bodies or the African Union,” she added.
Internet restored in Gabon
Internet, which was out for three days, has been restored in Gabon, the AFP news agency reports.
A nationwide internet shutdown was imposed by President Ali Bongo’s government as polling drew to a close late Saturday on the grounds that it would prevent the spread of “false news” and possible violence.
The coup in Gabon is different’: Analyst
Ovigwe Eguegu, analyst at the security consultancy group Afripolitika, says the apparent coup in Gabon is not similar to others witnessed in West Africa.
“The coup in Gabon came as a surprise but to some extent, it is not really a surprise because if you go back to 2016 for instance when there was an election, the vote was fraudulent with people protesting the results. That was Ali Bongo’s second term,” Eguegu said.
“Then in 2019, there was a coup attempt and those officers cited election irregularities saying it was not representative of the will of the people,” he added.
“Again, we are seeing the same pattern. The coup in Gabon is different from what we are seeing in other West African countries. While those other coups are more about security and governance, this is specifically about the electoral process,” he said.
