Gabon military officers announce coup after president declared vote winner

This video seize reveals Gabonese troopers saying they had been “putting an end to the current regime” (AFP)

Military officers in oil-producing Gabon stated that they had seized energy on Wednesday, after the Central African state’s election physique introduced that President Ali Bongo had gained a 3rd time period.

A dozen senior officers appeared on tv channel Gabon 24 to declare that the election outcomes had been cancelled, borders had been closed and state establishments had been dissolved. They stated they represented all Gabon’s safety and defence forces.

Hundreds of individuals took to the streets of the capital Libreville to have fun within the morning following the in a single day announcement, which appeared to have been filmed from the presidential palace, in accordance with the tv pictures.

If profitable, the coup could be the eighth in West and Central Africa since 2020. The newest one, in Niger, was in July. Military officers have additionally seized energy in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Chad, erasing democratic positive factors because the Nineties.

The officers, calling themselves The Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions, stated Gabon was “undergoing a severe institutional, political, economic, and social crisis”, and stated the August 26 election was not clear or credible.

Gunfire was heard briefly in Libreville after the assertion saying the ousting of Bongo, whose household have dominated the oil and manganese producer for greater than half a century. But the streets had been largely calm earlier than celebrations erupted. Police officers guarded main metropolis intersections.

There was no rapid remark from Gabon’s authorities and there have been no rapid reviews on the whereabouts of Bongo, 64, who was final seen in public casting his vote on Saturday.

The president had appeared in public earlier than the vote wanting more healthy than earlier uncommon and frail tv appearances following a stroke in 2019.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne stated France, Gabon’s former colonial ruler, was following the state of affairs carefully.

The coup creates extra uncertainty for France’s presence within the area. It has about 350 troops stationed in Gabon. French forces had been kicked out of Mali and Burkina Faso after coups in these international locations, amid a wave of anti-French sentiment, and the coup leaders in Niger have additionally ordered them to depart.

China’s international ministry known as for the state of affairs in Gabon to be resolved peacefully and stated the private security of Bongo, who visited China in April, ought to be ensured.