Gabon coup – live: Military says president Ali Bongo under house arrest after ‘seizing power’
Gabon’s coup leaders say they have placed president Ali Bongo on house arrest after claiming to have seized control of the country following the incumbent’s disputed election win.
Military leaders added that other members of Bongo’s government had been detained - hours after officials announced the president had won a third term in office.
Earlier the officers, who claimed to represent all the Central African state’s security and defence forces, declared that the results of the election had been cancelled.
All borders were closed until further notice and state institutions were dissolved, the group said on TV station Gabon 24. Just minutes after the statement gunfire could be heard ringing out in the capital Libreville.
President Bongo’s family has ruled the country that produces oil and manganese for more than half a century.
There was no immediate comment from the government of Gabon, which is a member of the oil producer group OPEC, and there were no immediate reports on the whereabouts of Bongo, who was last seen in public casting his vote on Saturday.
Key Points
Military claims to have seized power
Ali Bongo wins disputed presidential election
President under arrest - coup leaders
Gun fire heard in capital Libreville
10:09 , Matt Mathers
Hundreds of people celebrate coup in Libreville
10:54 , Matt Mathers
Hundreds of people celebrated in the centre of Gabon’s capital Libreville on Wednesday, a Reuters reporter said, after a group of senior military officers said they had seized power.
Pictures also appeared to show people celebrating in Akanda, a city about 32km (20m) northwest of the capital
People could be seen holding the Gabon national flag aloft while dancing and cheering. One man was pictured shaking the hand of a soldier.
EU defence ministers to discuss coup
11:41 , Matt Mathers
European Union defence ministers are to discuss the situation in Gabon, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday, adding that a coup, if confirmed, would heap more instability on the region.
"If this is confirmed, it is another military coup which increases instability in the whole region," said Borrell, speaking at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Toledo.
"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.
The signs of a coup in Gabon come just weeks after members of the presidential guard in Niger seized power and established a junta.
EU defence ministers to discuss coup
12:06 , Matt Mathers
European Union defence ministers are to discuss the situation in Gabon, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday, adding that a coup, if confirmed, would heap more instability on the region.
A group of senior Gabonese military officers appeared on national television in the early hours of Wednesday and said they had taken power, after the state election body announced President Ali Bongo had won a third term.
"If this is confirmed, it is another military coup which increases instability in the whole region," said Borrell, speaking at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Toledo.
"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.
09:44 , Matt Mathers
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the Gabon coup.
The country’s military claims to have seized control minutes after president Ali Bongo won a disputed presidential election.
Stay tuned for all the latest on this developing story.
Ali Bongo wins election
09:48 , Matt Mathers
The Gabonese Election Centre said earlier on Wednesday that Bongo won the election with 64.27 per cent of the vote and his main challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, had come in second with 30.77 per cent
Bongo, 64, succeeded his father Omar as president in 2009 and was re-elected in a disputed election in 2016.
The government said a web blackout and curfew were necessary to prevent the spread of fake news and to protect public safety. The state had also shut down the internet for several days after Bongo’s 2016 election win, which provoked violent protests that saw the parliament building torched.
Gabon foiled an attempted military coup in January 2019 after soldiers briefly seized the state radio station and broadcast a message saying Bongo, who had suffered a stroke months earlier, was no longer fit for office.
Military claims to have seized power
09:52 , Matt Mathers
Senior military officers appeared on Gabon national television to announce a coup following the country’s presidential election in the early hours of Wednesday, Holly Patrick reports.
Soldiers spoke on Gabon 24 minutes after the state election body announced president Ali Bongo won a third term, declaring that they represented all security and defence forces in the Central African nation.
Officers claimed that election results were cancelled, all borders closed until further notice, and state institutions dissolved.
Bongo’s team rejected allegations of fraud by Albert Ondo Ossam, who came in second place, and his opposition alliance after a vote marred by numerous polling stations opening several hours late.
Watch the clip below:
Gabon military declare coup live on TV after Ali Bongo wins disputed election
Gunfire heard in Gabon capital as military says it has seized power in coup
09:54 , Matt Mathers
Loud gunfire was reported across the Gabonese capital Libreville in the early hours of Wednesday.
Around 12 Gabonese soldiers took over a television channel’s broadcast to announce that they were dissolving “all the institutions of the republic” and said they represented all security and defence forces in Gabon.
Shweta Sharma reports:
Gunfire heard in Gabon capital as military says it has seized power in coup
Eight coup in West and Central Africa since 2020
10:13 , Matt Mathers
If successful, the coup would be the eighth in West and Central Africa since 2020.
The latest one, in Niger, was in July. Military officers have also seized power in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Chad.
Niger and other Sahel countries have been battling Islamist insurgencies that have eroded faith in democratic governments.
Gabon, which lies further south on the Atlantic coast, is not facing the same challenges, but a coup would suggest a further sign of democratic backsliding in a volatile region.
Who is Ali Bongo?
10:28 , Matt Mathers
Ali Bongo was born Alain Bernard Bongo in Congo-Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, in February 1959.
He is the son of Omar Bongo, who took control of Gabon in 1967 and the family has retained a tight grip on the oil rich nation ever since.
The president was sent to a private school in the upmarket Paris suburb of Neuilly, and later, to the Sorbonne where he studied law.
This international upbringing led many in Gabon to view him as an outsider.
His critics describe him as a spoilt, playboy prince who sees ruling Gabon as a birthright and accused him of doing little to channel its oil and other wealth towards the population of some 2.3 million people, a third of whom live in poverty.
Others, meanwhile, see the one-time funk singer as a reformer who was voted in democratically.
Adam Withnall has more on the Bongo family’s 55-year rule below:
Gabon coup would bring dramatic end to 55 years of Bongo family rule
Why was the presidential election disputed?
10:43 , Matt Mathers
Opposition parties accused the government of “fraud orchestrated by Ali Bongo and his supporters” after the internet was cut and a curfew imposed as the polls in the election closed on Saturday.
French media outlets France 24, RFI and TV5 Monde were among those banned from reporting and accused by the government of “a lack of objectivity and balance...in connection with the current general elections”.
A lack of international observers, the suspension of some foreign broadcasts, and the authorities’ decision to cut internet service and impose a night-time curfew nationwide after the poll had raised concerns about the transparency of the electoral process.
Bongo was the candidate for the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), the party founded by his father, Omar Bongo, who led Gabon from 1967 to 2009. After his death, his son, then the defence minister, took his place as president and has been in power ever since.
Hundreds celebrate military coup
11:09 , Matt Mathers
Hundreds of people celebrated in the centre of Gabon’s capital Libreville on Wednesday, a Reuters reporter said, after a group of senior military officers said they had seized power.
Pictures also appeared to show people celebrating in Akanda, a city about 32 km northwest of the capital Libreville.
People were seen holding the Gabon national flag aloft while dancing and cheering.
President on house arrest - coup leaders
11:22 , Matt Mathers
Coup leaders in Gabon’s military say president Bongo is under house arrest and that others in the government have been arrested.
Bongo is Gabon’s third president and has been in power since October 2009.
He is a member of the Gabonese Democratic Party.
What exactly did the military say in their statement?
12:01 , Matt Mathers
Earlier on Wednesday Gabon’s military, claiming to represent the defence and security forces, said it had seized control of the country on behalf of the people, following an election that lacked “transparency”.
“Today the country is undergoing a severe institutional, political, economic, and social crisis," the officers said in a statement, saying the 26 August election, which president Bongo won, lacked transparency and credibility.
"In the name of the Gabonese people ... we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime," they said.
One officer read the joint statement, surrounded by a dozen or so others in military fatigues and berets.
The servicemen introduced themselves as members of The Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions.
The state institutions they declared dissolved included the government, the senate, the national assembly, the constitutional court and the election body.
EU defence ministers to discuss coup - Borrell
12:15 , Matt Mathers
European Union defence ministers are to discuss the situation in Gabon, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday, adding that a coup, if confirmed, would heap more instability on the region.
A group of senior Gabonese military officers appeared on national television in the early hours of Wednesday and said they had taken power, after the state election body announced President Ali Bongo had won a third term.
"If this is confirmed, it is another military coup which increases instability in the whole region," said Borrell, speaking at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Toledo.
"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.
12:23 , Matt Mathers
We’re finishing our live coverage of the coup in Gabon.
Thanks for reading and join us again soon.
Have a good afternoon.
