LIBREVILLE, Gabon—Mutinous soldiers in Gabon proclaimed their republican guard chief as the country’s leader Wednesday after placing the just-reelected President Ali Bongo Ondimba under house arrest, alleging betrayal and massive embezzlement during his long-time rule over the oil-rich Central African nation. The coup leaders said in an announcement on Gabon’s…
This video grab shows soldiers holding General Brice Clothaire Oligui Nguema aloft in Libreville, Gabon, Wednesday August 30, 2023. Mutinous soldiers speaking on state television announced that they had seized power in and were overturning the results of a presidential election that was to extend the Bongo family’s 55-year hold on power.
Coup leaders said there would be a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time but that people would be allowed to move about freely during the day on Thursday. The former French colony is a member of OPEC, but its oil wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few—and nearly 40% of Gabonese aged 15 to 24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank. Its oil export revenue was $6 billion in 2022, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
The Bongo family has been associated with “systematic misappropriation of state revenues,” but the latest events “should be viewed with great caution, as they offer no guarantee of good governance and democratic transition,” Sherpa said in a statement. The president pleaded for support in a video showing him sitting in a chair with a bookshelf behind him.
Ossa, the opposition leader, told The AP he wasn’t ready to comment and was waiting for the situation to evolve. France has maintained close economic, diplomatic and military ties with Gabon, and has 400 soldiers stationed there for a military training operation. The US Africa Command said it has no forces stationed in the Central African nation other than at the US Embassy.