A group of Gabonese military officers appeared on national television on Wednesday 30th August to announce the overthrow of President Ali Bongo’s government and cancellation of the 26th August elections.
Bongo had been declared reelected for a third term in the controversial vote.
Calling themselves the Committee of Transition and Restoration of Institutions, the group said all national institutions are dissolved and borders closed until further notice.
Bongo’s government had imposed a nationwide curfew and cut Internet services after the elections.
Ali Bongo took over from his father Omar Bongo.
If successful, the coup would end more than 50 years of the Bongo family’s reign in the oil-rich Central African country of 2.4 million people.
Announcing the coup, the military officers said:
“Our beautiful country Gabon has always been a haven of peace. This country is going through a serious institutional, political, economic and social crisis. it must also be admitted that the organization of the electoral deadlines known as the general elections of August 26, 2023 did not meet the conditions for a transparent, credible and inclusive ballot so hoped for by Gabonese men and women. Added to this is an irreproachable, unpredictable governance which results in a continuous deterioration of social cohesion risking to lead the country to chaos.
. Today, August 30, 2023, we defense and security forces gathered within the Committee for the Transition and the Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), on behalf of the Gabonese people and guarantors of the protection of institutions have decided to defend peace in putting an end to the regime in place. To this end, the general elections of August 26, 2023 as well as the truncated results are cancelled. Borders are closed until further notice. All the institutions of the Republic are dissolved. In particular the Government, the Senate, the National Assembly, the Constitutional Court, the economic, social and environmental council, the Gabonese Council for Elections. We call on the population, the communities of sister countries settled in Gabon as well as the Gabonese of the diaspora for calm and serenity. We reaffirm our attachment to the respect of Gabon’s commitments vis-à-vis the national and international community
Gabonese people it is finally our flight towards happiness. May God and the ghosts of our ancestors bless Gabon”
