Military Deposes Gabon President, Takes Over Government

The Gabonese President, Ali Bongo, has been deposed by the military, days after winning the presidential election.

According to the BBC, soldiers were said to have appeared on Gabonese national television in Gabon to announce that they had taken power.

The coupists also announced the annulment of Saturday’s election and the dissolution of the democratic institutions in the country.

Speaking on Gabon 1 and Gabon 24, the spokesman of the coupist said he was speaking on behalf of the “Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions”.

He said: “We have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime. To this end, the general elections of 26 August 2023 and the truncated results are cancelled.

“All the institutions of the republic are dissolved: the government, the Senate, the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court. Also, the country’s borders have been closed until further notice.”

Among the soldiers were members of the Republican Guard as well as soldiers of the regular army and police officers.

Bongo, who came to power after the death of his father in 2009, won a third term in an election which opposition argued was heavily disputed.

The development comes amid the move to resolve the removal of a democratically elected president in Niger Republic.

Both the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and African Union (AU), which have rejected the coup in Niger, are yet to react to the coup in Gabon as of the time of filing this report.