Why Gabon soldiers ended Ali Bongo’s 14-year rule four days after ‘re-election’
Exactly four days after Gabon’s presidential election, held on Saturday, August 26, 2023, the country’s military brought an end to President Ali Bongo’s 14-year rule, citing concerns about electoral integrity.
The coup occurred 36 days after General Abdourahmane Tchiani led a palace coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger. With this coup, Africa now has seven countries under military regimes, harkening back to the continent’s early days after gaining independence in the late 1950s and 1960s.
Initially declared by Gabon’s electoral commission, the election results announced that President Ali Bongo had secured just under two-thirds of the votes, seemingly ensuring another term in office. However, the opposition swiftly contested the outcome, alleging widespread fraud and irregularities in the electoral process.
On Wednesday, August 30, 2023, twelve soldiers appeared on television to nullify the election results and suspend “all institutions of the republic” until further notice.
“We have decided to restore peace by ending the current regime,” one of the soldiers announced on TV channel Gabon 24.
He attributed the mutineers’ decision to “irresponsible and unpredictable governance that has led to a continuous deterioration in social cohesion, risking the country’s descent into chaos.”
What we know about President Ali Bongo
President Ali Bongo’s rule commenced in 2009, succeeding his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, who held power for an astonishing 42 years.
During his father’s presidency, Ali Bongo, now 64, served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1991. He also represented Bongoville as a Deputy in the National Assembly from 1991 to 1999 and held the position of Minister of Defense from 1999 until his victory in the presidential election for Central Africa on October 16, 2009.
In 2016, Bongo secured re-election as president amidst elections tainted by numerous irregularities, arrests, human rights violations, and post-election protests and violence.
President Bongo’s health took a severe blow when he suffered a stroke on October 24, 2018, rendering him absent from the public eye for several months. He would eventually make his first public appearance 10 months after the stroke in August 2019. Despite calls for his resignation and an attempted coup in January 2019, he persisted in retaining power.
The recent surge in coups across Africa has ignited both domestic and international discussions. A month after the coup in Niger, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by President Bola Tinubu, engaged in diplomatic dialogues that have yielded minimal results. The mutineers stood firm in their resolve to maintain power for three years before transitioning to civilian rule.
