The military seized power in Gabon, announcing that General Brice Oligui Nguema is the interim President of that Central African country.
Earlier, Gen Nguema was carried by his soldiers in a triumphant manner, in the streets of the capital Libreville.
The elected president, Ali Bongo, appeared in a video at his home, asking his friends from all over the world to shout on his behalf (on his behalf), so that he is not counted.
This country used to be colonized by France, it is one of the countries in Africa where a lot of oil is mined.
The overthrow of Bongo’s regime took place on Wednesday morning, where the soldiers appeared on television saying that they had seized power.
They said they tampered with the results of Saturday’s election, in which Bongo was declared the winner, but his opponents say it was rigged.
The soldiers also said that they arrested one of Bongo’s sons and accused him of conspiracy.
Hours later, the generals met to discuss who would lead the transition, and no one agreed to appoint Gen Nguema, who was the head of the military to protect the president.
Crowds in Libreville and elsewhere in the country cheered the military announcement.
A group of soldiers besieged the government when it announced it
But the coup was condemned by the United Nations, the African Union and France, which had close ties with the Bongo family.
The US State Department urged the Gabonese military to “maintain civil government”, and urged “those involved to release and ensure the safety of Government members”.
Britain condemned the “unconstitutional military takeover”.
In the month of June (6) in 2022, Gabon joined the Commonwealth, becoming one of the few member states that was not colonized by Great Britain.
There has long been anger towards the Bongo family – which has ruled Gabon for 55 years – and among the people there has been anger over other issues such as the cost of living.
A resident of Libreville, who did not want to be named, told the BBC: “At first I was scared, but then I felt happy.
“I was afraid because I was in a place where the regime was overthrown, but the happiness is that we have been waiting for this regime to be overthrown for a long time”.
Gen Nguema, 48, did not appear in the first three announcements read on national television by senior military officers when the coup was announced.
But soon after he was announced as the leader of the transition, and was carried through the streets of Libreville in celebration.
He was the aide-de-camp of Omar Bongo, the father of the former president. Omar Bongo ruled Gabon for almost 42 years, until his death in 2009.
A former close associate of Gen Nguema told AFP that Gen Nguema was Omar Bongo’s closest confidant, working for him from 2005 until he died in a Spanish hospital.
During the regime of Ali Bongo, he started working as a military attaché (attaché militaire) in the Gabonese embassies in Morocco and Senegal.
But in 2018, he was appointed chief of intelligence in the presidential guard unit – the first and most powerful unit in the Gabonese army, and was later promoted to the rank of general.
In 2019, he was appointed head of the presidential guard, replacing Frédéric Bongo, Ali Bongo’s half-brother.
As with previous elections in Gabon, there were serious concerns in Saturday’s election.
The main opposition candidate, Albert Ondo Ossa, complained that many polling stations did not have the ballot papers with his name on them, while his office said that some of the names of those who withdrew from the election were still appearing on the ballot papers. ballot paper.
Bongo’s victories in both previous terms have been criticized by the opposition as fraudulent. This time, controversial changes were made to the ballot papers weeks before Election Day.
In 2018, Bongo, 64, suffered a stroke, which kept him out of work for almost a year, with some calling for his resignation.
In the following year, an attempt to overthrow his government was thwarted, and the rebel soldiers were imprisoned.
