Another coup in Africa as military removes Gabon President
A group of military officers seized power in Gabon barely four days after the election of President Ali Bongo, who was recently declared winner of the presidential election in the country.
The junta said they removed the President because his election was not credible.
Bongo, who has been in power since 1999 following the death of his father was declared the winner of the election for his third term in office.
According to Aljazeera, the junta appeared on national TV, Gabon24 to announce the annulment of the election in the early hours of Wednesday, August 30, 2023.
The junta also dissolved all state institutions and closed the country’s borders.
Announcing the removal of the President, the junta said, “In the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime.”
The Bongo family has ruled Gabon for 56 years.
This is coming one month after the removal of a democratically elected president in Niger Republic.
The election before the coup
The presidential election held on Saturday, August 26, 2023, has been described as a “fraud orchestrated by Ali Bongo and his supporters” by opposition parties.
The election was Bongo’s third time on the platform of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), a political party founded by his father, Omar Bongo.
Initially, 19 candidates were expected to participate in the poll, but a few days before the presidential election, six of them formed the Alternance 2023 coalition and named an independent candidate Albert Ondo Ossa as their joint presidential candidate.
