Gabon: Ali Bongo swept away by a putsch

The third African putsch of the year took away the President of Gabon Ali Bongo on Wednesday morning. The military took power with a sort of ease that did not surprise many people. “No one is happy, but this kind of regime could only go like this”says Jean Gaspard Ntoutoume Ayi, a lifelong opponent.

In the middle of the night, the Gabonese Elections Center gave Ali Bongo the winner, with 64.27% of the votes, in the presidential election held on Sunday. The hour and the precipitation show the lack of serenity of power. A few hours later, twelve soldiers and a civilian appeared on television. In a choreography that has become commonplace, they announce “put an end to the regime in place”. “To this end, the general elections of August 26, 2023 as well as the truncated results are cancelled”explains Colonel Ulrich Manfoumbi, spokesperson for the Committee for the Transition and the Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), the name of the junta, denouncing “irresponsible governance” and announcing the dissolution of all institutions.

A nepotistic world

The origin of the blow was not a mystery for long. The putschists’ message was broadcast on the screens of the Gabon 24 television channel, housed within the presidency itself. One of the leaders of the Republican Guard, the GR, the praetorians of the regime, is also among the soldiers, his green beret on his head. The deposed prince, Ali Bongo, 64, appears to him, a little haggard, the air of not understanding the situation, in a video broadcast on social networks. In hesitant English he appeals to “friends around the world to tell them to make noise” “against people who arrested (me)”. A call for help that no one will answer.

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Almost immediately, General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, the head of the Republican Guard, explained to World that the president was “retired”refusing to speak about his personal intentions. “He enjoys all his rights. He is a normal Gabonese, like everyone else., said the officer, even though the deposed president was placed under house arrest with his wife and his doctors. It’s barely 3 p.m. and the decision is made. The future remains to be defined.

On the internet as well as on the French-speaking media, restored after being suspended on Saturday evening, videos are circulating where we see General Nguema acclaimed by his troops, carried in triumph. “Oligui president”, can we hear, way to confirm the involvement of the soldier and the GR in the coup. On X (formerly Twitter), the CTRI announced that it had promoted General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, commander in chief of the Republican Guard, to its leadership. As required by the “jurisprudence” of the putschs in West Africa, he was appointed head of the transition. A meeting was underway Wednesday evening in Libreville, which could lead to a speech on television in the coming days.

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The reasons for this pronunciamiento remain mysterious, but are undoubtedly due to internal disputes within the Bongo clan. A brutal dispute between the “big families” and the presidential entourage accused of de facto ruling the country since the serious stroke which affected Ali Bongo in 2018, leaving him very weakened. A palace revolution rather than a real putsch. The course of General Oligui Nguema pleads in this direction. The man, if he is still young, is not a stranger but a man of the seraglio. Originally from Haut-Ogooué, the stronghold of the Bongos, he would be a member of the family through his mother, a quality in this nepotic world. This proximity had also allowed him to work for Omar Bongo. Several other “young people” would be on these sides.

By contrast, Noureddin Bongo-Valentin, Ali’s son, was arrested along with at least six special advisers to the ousted head of state, all accused “of treason against state institutions”. These men, nicknamed “the young guard”, are accused by the opposition and civil society of having become the true leaders of the country. They concentrated the anger fueled by a deeply unjust system for decades.

The Gabonese, they wonder less and rejoice openly, despite the extension of the curfew established by Ali Bongo four days ago. In the popular Plein-Ciel district of Libreville, a small crowd shouted their joy at dawn. “It’s liberation!”, “Bongo out!”, applauding the passing soldiers. In Port-Gentil, the economic capital, on the Place du Château-d’eau located in a popular district and traditional stronghold of the opposition, hundreds of people honked their horns, shouting: “Gabon is liberated.”