Gabon: Ali Bongo deposed in a coup

On the morning of Wednesday 30 August in Libreville, shortly after the announcement of Ali Bongo’s disputed victory in the presidential election for a third term, the Gabonese army declared that it had seized power and cancelled the elections.

Since 2021, Gabon is the fifth country in French-speaking Africa to experience a coup, after Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger just a month ago. One might be tempted to see this as a contagion effect, a widespread rejection of France and the post-colonial regimes it has nurtured in favour of a rapprochement with Russia… but shortcuts are sometimes misleading. The removal of Ali Bongo by his Republican Guard also reflects a desire to put an end to the “Bongo dynasty” that has reigned unchallenged for nearly sixty years, which is why the international community remains cautious in its condemnation of the putsch. It remains to be seen whether General Oligui Nguema Brice (a distant cousin of Ali Bongo), who has been appointed President of the transition, will keep his democratic promises.

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