Gabonese opponent Ondo Ossa said on Thursday that the military takeover in his country was a “palace revolution” that keeps the Bongo system in place. Gabon’s new strongman, General Brice Oligui Nguema, will be enthroned on Monday as president of a “transitional” power for an as yet indefinite period. L’Express summarizes the latest information for you as the country has just been suspended by the African Union.
African Union suspends Gabon
The African Union announced on Thursday the suspension with immediate effect of Gabon. The continental organization “strongly condemns the takeover by the military in the Republic of Gabon”, announced the AU in a press release published on X (ex-Twitter).
The organization’s Peace and Security Council “decided to immediately suspend Gabon’s participation in all activities of the AU, its organs and institutions”, the statement continued.
The meeting was chaired by the Commissioner for Political Affairs of the African Union, the Nigerian Bankole Adeoye, and the current holder of the rotating chairmanship of the council, the Burundian Willy Nyamitwe.
“A palace revolution” according to an opponent
Gabonese opponent Ondo Ossa said on Thursday that the military takeover in his country was a “palace revolution” that keeps the Bongo system in place.
“You have to put things in their context. First of all, it’s not a coup, it’s a palace revolution. Oligui Nguema is the cousin of Ali Bongo […] The Bongos found that Ali Bongo had to be put aside to effectively continue the Bongo system,” he said on TV5 Monde.
“They put Oligui Nguema forward but behind him, we know who is there. It’s still the Bongo system that continues. Oligui Nguema is an underling. Behind him, it’s the Bongo clan that remains in power “, he said.
Military government can only ‘make problems worse’, insists UN chief
“Military governments are not the solution” to a country’s problems, they can only “aggravate” them, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Thursday, after several coups in Africa.
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“Many countries are facing deep governance challenges. But military governments are not the solution,” he told reporters, in response to the “succession of coups in recent months, in especially in Africa”.
Military governments “make problems worse. They can’t solve a crisis, they can only make it worse,” he added. “I call on all countries to quickly establish credible democratic institutions and the rule of law.”
General Brice Oligui Nguema will be sworn in
Gabon’s new strongman, General Brice Oligui Nguema, who overthrew Ali Bongo Ondimba, will be sworn in as “transitional president” on Monday (September 4th) before the Constitutional Court, the putschists announced on Thursday.
The country’s new strongman, who overthrew the barely re-elected President Ali Bongo Ondimba on Wednesday, accusing his side of having rigged the results of the presidential election, also announced the “gradual establishment of transitional institutions” and promised that the country will respect all “its external and internal commitments”.
“The president of the transition will be sworn in before the Constitutional Court on Monday, September 4, 2023 as President of the Republic,” announced Colonel Ulrich Manfoumbi Manfoumbi, spokesman for the Committee for the Transition, on state television. and the Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), which brings together all the commanders of the army.