All You Need To Know About Gabon’s Ongoing Coup Attempt

A group of senior military officers in Gabon announced on Wednesday that they have seized power in the capital, intending to overturn the recent election results and remove a leader whose family has ruled for nearly 56 years.

This development came just an hour after President Ali Bongo Ondimba was declared the winner of the presidential election held over the weekend.

Read Also BREAKING: Gabon President Breaks Silence After Ouster In Country’s First Coup

Here is a summary of the situation:

• Gabon held its presidential election on Saturday, August 26.
• On Wednesday, August 30, the national electoral authority declared Bongo, who had been in power for 14 years, as the winner of a third term with 64.27 percent of the votes.
• Shortly after, a group of mutinous soldiers appeared on state TV, stating that they were taking control, annulling the election results, and ending the current regime.
• Bongo’s main challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, received 30.77 percent of the vote, according to the electoral authority.
• The soldiers who took power identified themselves as members of the “Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions.” They dissolved various state institutions, including the government, senate, national assembly, constitutional court, and more.
• The coup attempt occurred in the capital city of Libreville, with reports of gunfire and celebrations in the streets.
• Gabon has been ruled by the same family for over 55 years and is one of Africa’s richest countries due to oil revenues.
• Bongo, 64, has been placed under house arrest, according to the coup leaders. He assumed power in 2009 after his father’s death.
• This coup attempt is part of a broader trend of political instability in West and Central Africa, with coups occurring in several countries since 2020.