President under house arrest as soldiers annul election – Skyy Power FM

A dozen mutinous soldiers appeared on Gabonese national television, announcing the cancellation of recent election results and the dissolution of “all the institutions of the republic”.

Wednesday’s announcement came after President Ali Bongo Ondimba, 64 was re-elected for a third term, in an election the opposition described as a ‘fraud orchestrated’ by the ruling party.

The soldiers say they have the president under house arrest in a location believed to be the presidential palace.

He is the son of Omar Bongo who was president from 1967 till his death in 2009. The younger Bongo has been in power since then.

There have been scenes of celebration in the Gabonese capital, Libreville since the military takeover.

Ships drop anchor around Gabon
At least 30 commercial ships dropped anchor around Gabon’s waters after military officers said they had seized power, Reuters news agency reported citing data and maritime sources.

British maritime security company Ambrey said port operations in Libreville had stopped and no vessels had entered or departed the port since the announcement of the coup.

“Ambrey is aware that movements in and out of Gabon have been closed down following an early morning announcement by military officials,” it added in an advisory.

Russia ‘concerned’ about situation in Gabon
Russia says it is concerned about the situation in Gabon.

“Moscow has received with concern reports of a sharp deterioration in the internal situation in the friendly African country. We continue to closely monitor the development of the situation and hope for its speedy stabilisation,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was closely following the situation.

Russia is looking to build up diplomatic and trade ties with Africa, and President Vladimir Putin hosted African leaders for a summit last month.

‘Bongo era is over’
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Dusseldorf, Germany, Adama Gaye, a political analyst, says the ongoing coup in Gabon did not come as a surprise.

“The Bongo era is over. Ali Bongo was no longer in the hearts of the population in Gabon. He was not accepted by the opposition, who were very strong this time around,” Gaye said.

“There was also bickering between Ali Bongo and France to the point where two days ago on national television a speaker said there was a coup attempt been masterminded by Emmanuel Macron and the opposition,” he added.

“He [Bongo] was trying to create the condition for him to clamp down on the opposition and to fabricate another victory for himself in another rigged election. But this time around the military realised that this was too far-fetched and they had to act, and that is what they did,” Gaye added.

France says Gabon election result should be respected
France’s government spokesman Olivier Veran says Paris condemns the coup in Gabon and wants the election result in Gabon to be respected.

Earlier, France’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Paris was following events in Gabon “with the greatest attention”.

On Monday, President Emmanuel Macron denounced what he called an “epidemic” of coups in recent years in French-speaking Africa, from Mali and Burkina Faso to Guinea and most recently Niger.

Paris maintains a military presence in many of its former colonial territories, including Gabon where it has 370 soldiers permanently deployed, some in the capital Libreville, according to the French defence ministry website.

A military vehicle passes by people celebrating after military officers announced they had taken power[Reuters]
Oil giant Total says safety of employees, operations ‘main priority’
French oil giant TotalEnergies says it has made arrangements to ensure the safety of its employees and operations in Gabon.

The company is the country’s main distributor of petroleum products with 45 petrol stations and has said it has 350 staff in Gabon.

Gabon also accounted for 0.6 percent of the company’s oil and gas output in 2022.

The group did not immediately respond to a question on whether the coup could potentially have an impact on its operations.

Coup leaders say President Bongo under house arrest
Gabon’s coup leaders say President Ali Bongo Ondimba is under house arrest and one of his sons has been arrested for “treason”.

“President Ali Bongo is under house arrest, surrounded by his family and doctors,” they said in a statement read out on state TV.

Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reporting from Dakar, Senegal said there is heavy presence of security forces on the streets of Libreville.

“The presidential guards seem to have taken control of the presidential palace and they have taken key positions around the National Assembly and the Senate,” Haque said.

‘In the past France would have intervened’
France is unlikely to send its military to intervene in its former colony, Tara O’Connor, executive director of Africa Risk Consulting, told Al Jazeera from Bordeaux.

“I think what is very clear is that dynastic politics are extremely unpopular across West Africa. But I do think this is opportunistic on the part of the military officers following the military coups that have taken place, successfully it has to be said, in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, which are all neighbouring countries and with whom the military leadership will have relations,” O’Connor said.

“Gabon is yet another country that was formerly a dictatorship under Ali Bongo’s father. It actually moved towards democracy and has had relatively successful and peaceful elections. But I think much more interesting is its position in relation to France,” she said.

“In the past, France would have intervened with its military. But France has modernised its foreign policy towards Africa and now would only intervene at the invitation of says ECOWAS or any of the regional bodies or the African Union,” she added.

French mining group Eramet says Gabon operations ‘stopped’
French mining group Eramet says it has stopped its activities in Gabon.

Eramet said that “for the safety of staff and the security of operations” it had “stopped” work and was following events closely.

It employs 8,000 people in the oil and mineral-rich West African country and its local subsidiary extracts manganese ore, a mineral used in steel-making and batteries, from the Moanda mines, the world’s largest manganese mines.

‘The coup in Gabon is different’: Analyst
Ovigwe Eguegu, security analyst at Afripolitika, a security consultancy group, says the coup in Gabon is not similar to others witnessed in West Africa.

“The coup in Gabon came as a surprise but to some extent, it is not really a surprise because if you go back to 2016 for instance when there was an election, the vote was fraudulent with people protesting the results. That was Ali Bongo’s second term,” Eguegu said.

“Then in 2019, there was a coup attempt and those officers cited election irregularities saying it was not representative of the will of the people,” he added.

“Again, we are seeing the same pattern. The coup in Gabon is different from what we are seeing in other West African countries. While those other coups are more about security and governance, this is specifically about the electoral process,” he said.

‘We expect reactions on the streets’: AJ correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reporting from Niamey in Niger says people in Gabon are just waking up to the news.

“We expect reactions on the streets. It’s expected that many people here will be happy,” he said.

“The common thread of all these coups in West Africa and Central Africa that we have seen over the past few years is basically economic stagnation, corruption and insecurity,” Idris said.

“In the case of Gabon, it’s more like corruption and of course maladministration,” he added.

Celebrations in parts of Libreville

Residents applaud members of the security forces in the Plein Ciel district, Libreville [AFP]

The Bongo family has ruled the West African country since it gained independence from France in 1960 [AFP]
China calls for President Bongo’s safety to be guaranteed
China has called for “all sides” in Gabon to guarantee the safety of President Ali Bongo Ondimba after a group of military officers said they were “putting an end to the current regime” in the West African nation.

“We call on all sides in Gabon to proceed from the basic interests of the country and the people, resolve differences through dialogue, (and) restore normal order as soon as possible,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

Wang called on parties to “guarantee the personal safety of President Bongo, and uphold national peace and stability”.

France following events in Gabon ‘with the greatest attention’
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne says Parisis following events in Gabon “with the greatest attention”

Borne’s comment was the first reaction from France – Gabon’s former colonial power – whose influence and interests in Africa are seen as being undermined by a series of recent coups that have toppled friendly governments.

‘We are hearing that people are coming out of their homes’
Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi reporting from Nairobi, Kenya says people have started taking to the streets in Gabon.

“Right now we are hearing that people are coming out of their homes, they have come to the streets, and many of them are celebrating,” Soi said.

“We are also being told that the military individuals who spoke on TV have arrested several government officials as well,” she added.

“We don’t know where the president is. The individuals who spoke did not say if they were holding the president,” Soi said.

‘This is a big issue for Europe’
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says defence ministers from the bloc are to discuss the situation in Gabon.

“If this is confirmed, it is another military coup which increases instability in the whole region,” Borrell, speaking at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Toledo, said.

“The whole area, starting with Central African Republic, then Mali, then Burkina Faso, now Niger, maybe Gabon, it’s in a very difficult situation and certainly the ministers … have to have a deep thought on what is going on there and how we can improve our policy in respect with these countries,” he said.

“This is a big issue for Europe,” he added.

‘We are finally on the road to happiness’
Gabon’s army officers who claimed to have seized power say the country is “on the road to happiness”, adding that Libreville will respect its commitments “to the national and international community”.

“We call for calm and serenity from the public, the communities of sister countries settled in Gabon, and the Gabonese diaspora,” an officer reading a statement on state TV said.

“We reaffirm our commitment to respecting Gabon’s commitments to the national and international community,” he added.

Gabon’s borders ‘closed until further notice’: Soldiers announce on TV
Gabon’s borders have been closed indefinitely by soldiers who appeared to have seized power, as announced in a statement broadcast on the state-run Gabon 24 television channel.

“The borders are closed until further notice,” said one of the soldiers, speaking on behalf of a “Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions”.

Source: Aljazeera