…The latest coup is the eight in West and Central Africa since
WED, AUGUST 30 2023-theGBJournal |Army officers in Gabon appeared on television in the early hours of today to say they have taken over power, dissolving all the institutions of the republic and closed the country’s borders ”until further notice.”
They also annulled the results of the just concluded general election in the country which opposition parties argued is flawed and rigged for President Ali Bongo.
The electoral commission, after the election, Saturday announced Bongo as winner of the election with just under two-thirds of the votes as he aimed for a third-term.
The commission said Bongo secured 64.27% of the vote as against 30.77% for his main challenger Albert Ondo Ossa.
The previous two elections in the country had also been contested as fraudulent by opposition parties.
In this election, foreign reporters were banned from coming into the country to cover the election and international election observers were severely hampered while observing the election process.
And as polls closed, the government shut down internet access, saying it is for security reasons. They also imposed a curfew.
Bongo came to power in 2009 after his father’s death. His family has held power in the small West African country for 53 years.
His party, Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) was founded by his father, Omar Bongo who ruled the country from 1967 to2009.
”We have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime,” one leader of the coup” said on TV, adding that, ”this was down to irresponsible, unpredictable governance resulting in a continuing deterioration in social cohesion that risks leading the country into chaos.”
Recall that in 2019, a failed coup attempt saw mutinying army officers sent to jail.
The latest coup is the eight in West and Central Africa since. Coups Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea and Niger have seen democracy sacked.
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