Mutineers in Gabon appoint a military leader after detaining the president, alleging corruption
LIBREVILLE, Gabon — Mutinous soldiers in Gabon proclaimed their republican guard chief as the country’s leader Wednesday after placing newly reelected President Ali Bongo Ondimba under house arrest, alleging betrayal and massive embezzlement during his longtime rule over the oil-rich African nation.
The coup leaders said in an announcement on Gabon’s state TV that Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema had been “unanimously” designated president of a transitional committee to lead the country. Oligui is a cousin of Bongo, who earlier Wednesday had been declared the winner of the country’s latest presidential election following 55 years of rule by him and his late father.
In a video from detention in his residence, Bongo called on people to “make noise” to support him. But the crowds who took to the streets of the capital instead celebrated the coup against a dynasty accused of getting rich on the country’s resource wealth while many of its citizens struggle.
“Thank you, army. Finally, we’ve been waiting a long time for this moment,” said Yollande Okomo, standing in front of soldiers from Gabon’s elite republican guard, one of the units that staged the takeover.
It was a flashback to those old-fashioned African coups of decades ago, the ones that are not supposed to happen anymore.
Coup leaders said that there would be a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
“The president of the transition insists on the need to maintain calm and serenity in our beautiful country. ... At the dawn of a new era, we will guarantee the peace, stability and dignity of our beloved Gabon,” Lt. Col. Ulrich Manfoumbi said Wednesday on state TV.
Oligui, the military leader designated to supplant Bongo, used to be the bodyguard of Bongo’s father, the late President Omar Bongo, said Desire Ename, a journalist with Echos du Nord, a local media outlet. Oligui also was head of the secret service in 2019 before becoming head of the republican guard.
Ali Bongo Ondimba, 64, has served two terms since coming to power in 2009 after the death of his father, who ruled the country for 41 years, and there has been widespread discontent with his reign. Another group of mutinous soldiers attempted a coup in 2019 but was quickly overpowered.
The former French colony is a member of OPEC, but its oil wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few — and nearly 40% of Gabonese aged 15 to 24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank. Its oil export revenue was $6 billion in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
A summit on how to protect the world’s largest forests underway in Gabon is set to be dominated by the issue of who pays for the protection and reforesting.
Nine members of the Bongo family, meanwhile, are under investigation in France, and some face preliminary charges of embezzlement, money laundering and other forms of corruption, according to Sherpa, a French nongovernmental organization dedicated to accountability. Investigators have linked the family to more than $92 million in properties in France, including two villas in Nice, the group says.
A spokesman for the coup leaders said that Bongo’s “unpredictable, irresponsible governance” risked leading the country into chaos. In a later statement, the coup leaders said people around the president had been arrested for “high betrayal of state institutions, massive embezzlement of public funds [and] international financial embezzlement.”
Analysts warned that the takeover risked bringing instability, and could have more to do with divisions among the ruling elite than efforts to improve the lives of ordinary Gabonese.
The Bongo family has been associated with “systematic misappropriation of state revenues,” but the latest events “should be viewed with great caution, as they offer no guarantee of good governance and democratic transition,” Sherpa said in a statement.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for the L.A. Times biggest news, features and recommendations in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
The coup occurred about one month after mutinous soldiers in Niger seized power from the democratically elected government, and is the latest in a series of coups across West and Central Africa in recent years. The impunity those putschists enjoyed may have inspired the soldiers in Gabon, said Maja Bovcon, senior analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a risk assessment firm.
In the weekend election, Bongo faced an opposition coalition led by Albert Ondo Ossa, an economics professor and former education minister. Minutes after Bongo was declared the winner, gunfire was heard in the capital, Libreville. Later, a dozen uniformed soldiers appeared on state television to announce they had seized power.
Libreville is a stronghold of the opposition, but it was unclear how the coup was seen in the countryside, where more people traditionally back Bongo.
The president pleaded for support in a video showing him sitting in a chair with a bookshelf behind him.
“I’m calling you to make noise, to make noise, to make noise really,” he said in English. The video was shared with the Associated Press by BTP Advisers, a communications firm that helped the president with polling for the election.
Other military juntas in Africa are backing the Niger coup with threats of force, defying regional leaders. Some are looking to Russia and Putin.
Shortly after the video went public, people with Bongo had their phones seized by soldiers, said Mark Pursey, the chief executive officer of BTP Advisers. Bongo’s son and communications director were being held at military headquarters, Pursey said.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the coup and called on military leaders to ensure the safety of Bongo and his family, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Ossa, the opposition leader, told the AP he wasn’t ready to comment and was waiting for the situation to evolve.
The mutinous officers vowed to respect “Gabon’s commitments to the national and international community.” But the coup threatened to bring the economy to a halt.
A man who answered the phone at the airport said flights were canceled Wednesday, and the private intelligence firm Ambrey said all operations at the country’s main port in Libreville had been halted. Several French companies said they were suspending operations.
The African Union and United Nations call for the immediate release of President Bah N’Daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane, who were arrested Monday.
“France condemns the military coup that is underway in Gabon and is closely monitoring developments,” French government spokesperson Olivier Véran said Wednesday.
France has maintained close economic, diplomatic and military ties with Gabon and has 400 soldiers stationed there for a military training operation. The U.S. Africa Command said it has no forces stationed in Gabon other than at the U.S. Embassy.
Unlike Niger and two other West African countries run by military juntas, Gabon hasn’t been racked by jihadist violence and had been seen as relatively stable.
White House National Security Council spokesman John F. Kirby said the events in Gabon were being followed with “great concern.” He said it was too early to call it part of a trend or a “domino effect” in military takeovers in the region.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, however, cited a “contagion of autocracy we are seeing spread across our continent” in a statement issued by his office. It said he was conferring with other heads of state and the African Union, whose commission condemned the coup and called for a return to “democratic constitutional order.”
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
