Another coup in Africa. After Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, the army has now also taken power further south in Gabon. But this time the population celebrates the coup as liberation.
Again the military has seized power in an African country. This time, however, the soldiers did not depose a democratic head of state, but a longtime autocrat who has lacked popular support for many years.
President Ali Bongo Ondimba is seen as a corrupt ruler whose family has allowed the country’s oil wealth to flow into their own pockets for decades – while 80 percent of the population suffers from poverty. A new ruler was named as early as Wednesday evening, less than 24 hours after the coup.
Doubts about a fair election
Elections were held in the Central African country on the Atlantic coast last Saturday. There are serious doubts as to whether these were independent, free and fair. During the count, the government shut down internet access, imposed a curfew and banned several French radio stations from broadcasting their programmes. There were no international election observers.
On Wednesday night, the electoral authority declared Bongo the winner with 64.27 percent of the votes. His biggest challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, received 30.77 percent.
Hours later, the military seized power. The election results were falsified, a group of officers said on Wednesday morning on state television in the former French colony. State institutions have been dissolved, election results annulled and borders closed, the group calling itself the Committee on Institutional Transition and Restoration (CTRI) announced. It was decided to “put an end to the current regime,” said one of the officers.
Bongo under house arrest
Bongo was placed under house arrest by the putschists. The 64-year-old is accused of high treason, the CTRI said. Other members of the government and Bongo’s son, Nouredine Bongo, were arrested.
In the evening, the putschists then named the head of the Presidential Guard, Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, as the new ruler. Nguema, who is also a cousin of deposed President Ali Bongo Ondimba, according to media reports, will become interim president.
Nguema has been the head of the Republican Guard, an elite army unit responsible for protecting the head of state, since 2020. Nguema had already justified the coup in an interview with the French newspaper “Le Monde”: “You know that there is dissatisfaction in Gabon.” The head of state had no right to a third term. Bongo is now a retired head of state and “a normal Gabonese like everyone else”.
One of the richest families in the world
The Bongo family, which has ruled autocratically for more than 50 years, has long been accused of corruption. She is reportedly one of the wealthiest families in the world, owns a private fleet of planes, several luxury cars and is believed to own dozens of residences in France worth millions of euros, according to non-governmental organization Transparency International.
Bongo’s third term has now begun. He took over the presidency in 2009 from his father, Omar Bongo, who ruled from 1967 until his death. Bongo won a first re-election in 2016 by just over 5,000 votes. He was also accused of manipulation at the time. Serious riots broke out as a result.
“When elections lose credibility and people are left powerless, military coups are the order of the day and we all suffer from increased violence and insecurity,” South African politician Mmusi Maimane warned on Platform X, formerly Twitter.
Numerous military coups
Just under a month ago, the Presidential Guard in Niger deposed the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum. The military had previously taken power in Mali and Burkina Faso, which are also in the Sahel region.
The coup in Gabon was undoubtedly inspired by the coups in the Sahel, Seidik Abba, head of the International Research Center for the Sahel, told French radio station France Info. Abba described the coup as “a new setback for France and its influence in Africa”, not only politically but also economically due to the oil exports of OPEC member Gabon. Bongo is considered a close ally of France.
Thousands celebrate in the streets
According to Abbas, however, the putsch was welcomed by the population, even desired. There will not be many Gabons who would defend the unpopular regime.
After the coup was announced, thousands of residents took to the streets in the capital Libreville and the western city of Port Gentile to celebrate the end of Bongo, according to eyewitnesses. Army vehicles loaded with soldiers were cheered, and Gabonese flags were waved as a sign of the country’s “liberation”.
Despite its oil wealth, the country’s approximately 2.3 million inhabitants mostly live in deep poverty. There were always scandals about Bongo’s wealth. According to Transparency International, Gabon is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. In 2008, the organization sued Bongo for misappropriating government oil revenues through private accounts in France. However, the investigation ended without a result.
“The inability of the international community and regional bodies to restore democracies in coup-hit countries like Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger has encouraged military officers to take power without fear of consequences,” said Maja Bovcon, an analyst with the security consultancy firm Verisk Maplecroft.
support of the opposition
In the case of Gabon, the military can also count on the support of the opposition. However, Bovcon said it was unlikely that the military would transfer power to opposition leader Ondo Ossa. As with other coups, a transitional military government is to be expected for a longer period of time.
On Wednesday, Germany and France appealed to their EU partners for sanctions against the putschists in Niger. According to diplomats in Brussels, the punitive measures are aimed in particular at leading representatives of the military junta ruling there. In addition, organizations that support the putschists could also be targeted. It must be made clear that the EU will not stand by and do nothing about the violent removal of a democratically elected president, an EU official told the German Press Agency.
On the fringes of a meeting of EU defense ministers in Toledo, Spain, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed concern about the reports from Gabon. Another military coup would increase instability in the region, he said. The United Nations and the African Union condemned the coup.