A group of Gabonese military officers appeared on television Wednesday announcing they were “putting an end to the current regime” and scrapping official election results that had handed another term to veteran President Ali Bongo Ondimba.
During the announcement, AFP journalists heard gunfire ring out in the Gabonese capital, Libreville.
While announcing the cancellation of the vote results one of the officers said “all the institutions of the republic” had been dissolved
The address was read by an officer flanked by a group of a dozen army colonels, members of the elite Republican Guard, regular soldiers and others.
It came moments after the national election authority said Bongo, 64, had won a third term in Saturday’s election with 64.27 percent of the vote.
Bongo has been in power for 14 years in the oil-rich West African country. He was first elected in 2009 following the death of his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, who had ruled the country for 41 years.
The announcement came in the middle of an overnight curfew and amid a nationwide internet shutdown, imposed by Bongo’s government as polling drew to a close on Saturday.
At 0600 GMT the streets in downtown Libreville were deserted, an AFP journalist saw.
“Today, the country is going through a serious institutional, political, economic, and social crisis,” the officer said on TV channel Gabon 24
He said the recent election “did not meet the conditions for a transparent, credible, and inclusive ballot so much hoped for by the people of Gabon.”
“We have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” the officer said, adding that he was speaking on behalf of the “Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions”.
The statement was also broadcast on Gabon 1 public television.
“To this end, the general elections of 26 August 2023 and the truncated results are canceled,” he added.
– ‘Fraud’ accusation –
“All the institutions of the republic are dissolved: the government, the Senate, the National Assembly, and the Constitutional Court,” he added, announcing the closure of the country’s borders “until further notice”.
Bongo and Ondo Ossa led a race of 14 candidates vying for the top job in the oil-rich central African state.
The elections in Gabon — presidential, legislative and municipal — went ahead without the presence of election observers
According to the results issued prior to the officers’ announcement, Bongo’s main rival Albert Ondo Ossa won just 30.77 percent of the vote.
Before polls closed on Saturday, Ondo Ossa had accused Bongo of “fraud” while claiming he was the rightful winner.
As the vote wrapped up Bongo’s government announced it would be imposing a nightly curfew between 7:00 pm and 6:00 am from Sunday, and said the internet would be shut down for the forseeable future to prevent the spread of “false news” and possible violence.
The country’s broadcasting authority, the HAC, also provisionally banned the French channels France 24, Radio France Internationale (RFI), and TV5Monde from the airwaves, accusing them of “a lack of objectivity and balance” in their election coverage.
Gabonese law forbids any publication of partial results pending the final result which only the Gabonese Elections Centre, the body that organizes the polls, is legally allowed to publish.
Paris said it was following events in Gabon with “the greatest attention”.
China also said it was “closely following the developing situation” and called for the safety of Bongo to be “guaranteed”.
– Family ruler –
Gabon has been ruled by the same family for more than 55 out of its 63 years since independence from France in 1960.
Bongo’s father Omar was one of France’s closest allies in the post-colonial era and his son has long been a regular in Paris, where his family owns an extensive real estate portfolio that is being investigated by anti-corruption magistrates.
Paris maintains a military presence in many of its former territories — including Gabon where it has 370 soldiers permanently deployed, some in the capital Libreville, according to the French defence ministry website
During a speech in Libreville in March, French President Emmanuel Macron denied any French ambitions to interfere in Africa, saying that the age of meddling was “well over.”
The French mining group Eramet, which employs 8,000 people in Gabon, said that it had halted activities in the country “for the safety of staff and the security of operations”.
READ OTHER STORIES:
2023 Kogi Governorship Election Results Be Transmitted From Polling Units — INEC
NLC Gives Police 48 hrs To Vacate NURTW Secretariat
Tony Elumelu’s Wife Transcorp Stake Soars to N13.21 Billion as Share Price Surges by 10%
Over 60,000 Nigerians Killed In 22 Years— Reps Speaker
Police Arrest 67 Suspects At Gay Wedding in Delta
