<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/30/gabon-coup-military-takeover-gabonese-election-disputed>
"Military officers in Gabon say they have taken power and put the president,
Ali Bongo Ondimba, under house arrest, as the country becomes the latest in
Africa to suffer an attempted coup, only weeks after mutinous troops seized
power in Niger.
A group of military personnel appeared on state television to announce they
were seizing power to overturn the results of a presidential election, seeking
to remove a president whose family has held power for nearly 56 years. The
officers introduced themselves as members of the Committee of Transition and
the Restoration of Institutions.
If successful, the coup would be the eighth in west and central Africa since
2020. The most recent one, in Niger, was in July, while the military has also
seized power in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Chad.
In a video apparently from detention in his residence, Bongo Ondimba called on
people to “make noise” to support him.
Crowds instead took to the streets of the capital and sang the national anthem
to celebrate the coup attempt against a dynasty accused of getting rich on the
country’s resource wealth while many of its citizens struggle to scrape by.
The officers said they represented all Gabonese security and defence forces and
announced the election results were cancelled, all borders were closed until
further notice and state institutions dissolved.
“Today the country is undergoing a severe institutional, political, economic,
and social crisis,” the officers said in a statement, saying the 26 August
election lacked transparency and credibility. “In the name of the Gabonese
people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current
regime.”
A Gabon army officer, Brice Oligui Nguema, told French newspaper
Le Monde
that generals would meet on Wednesday to decide who would lead a transition."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
