Soldiers take over in Gabon after Bongo’s victory

A group of senior military officers in Gabon appeared on national television in the early hours of Wednesday, August 30, 2023, and said they had taken power after the country’s electoral umpire announced President Ali Bongo had won a third term.

The soldiers said they represented all security and defence forces in the Central African nation.

They said the election results were cancelled, all borders closed until further notice, and state institutions dissolved.

Loud sounds of gunfire could be heard in the capital Libreville, a Reuters reporter said, after the television appearance.

There was no immediate comment from the government of the OPEC+-member nation.

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“In the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” the officers said.

Tensions were running high amid fears of unrest after Saturday’s presidential, parliamentary, and legislative vote, which saw Bongo seeking to extend his family’s 56-year grip on power while the opposition pushed for change in the oil and cocoa-rich but poverty-stricken nation.

A lack of international observers, the suspension of some foreign broadcasts, and the authorities’ decision to cut internet service and impose a night-time curfew nationwide after the poll had raised concerns about the transparency of the electoral process.

The Gabonese Election Centre said earlier on Wednesday Bongo won the election with 64.27 per cent of the vote and that his main challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, had come in second place with 30.77 per cent.

Bongo, 64, who succeeded his father Omar as president in 2009, had contested against 18 challengers, six of whom backed Ondo Ossa in an effort to narrow the race. Bongo’s team rejected allegations of fraud.

In 2016, the parliament building was torched when violent street protests erupted against Bongo’s contested re-election for his second term.

The government shut down internet access in Gabon for several days at the time.

The Star