Gabon president Bongo ‘under house arrest’ as military seized power

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Written by northsouth

Category: Africa

Published: 30 August 2023

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LIBREVILLE - Twelve Gabonese soldiers take over television channel’s broadcast to announce they are dissolving ‘all the institutions of the republic’.

Gabon’s military says it has seized power in the central African nation and placed president Ali Bongo under house arrest, a move that threatens the end of more than five decades in power for the Bongo family.

A dozen soldiers appeared on national TV on Wednesday to denounce the general election results that had been issued a short while earlier, in which Mr Bongo was declared the winner.

Around the time of the announcement, gunfire was heard in the centre of the Gabon capital Libreville.

The military said other politicians had also been placed under house arrest.

Hundreds of people took to the streets in Libreville to celebrate the end of Mr Bongo’s government amid widespread frustration over rising costs of living and other issues.

“Thank you, army. Finally, we’ve been waiting a long time for this moment,” a resident named Yollande Okomo told the Associated Press, standing in front of soldiers from Gabon‘s elite republican guard.

The soldiers who appeared on TV early on Wednesday said they were from “the Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions” and that they represented all of Gabon’s security and defence forces.

A soldier said they were dissolving “all the institutions of the republic”. “We have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime,” he said.

The military announced all borders of the country have been closed until further notice.

The apparent coup came shortly after Mr Bongo was declared the winner in a recent presidential election, handing him a third term in power. The results of the elections had been delayed since Saturday as the opposition claimed it was marred by fraud.

The Gabonese Election Centre (CGE) announced that Mr Bongo secured just under two-thirds of votes cast.

The seizure of power by the Gabonese army would end the Bongo family’s almost 55-years grip on power in the country.

Mr Bongo took the reins of the oil-rich and poverty-stricken nation in 2009 after the death of his father Omar Bango, who ruled the country for 42 years.

The government has so far issued no comment on Wednesday morning’s developments.

Concerns about the transparency of the electoral process had been raised in the absence of international observers, with the government shutting down internet services and enforcing a nationwide curfew at night following the election.

Dissatisfaction with the Bongo family’s long hold on power has been steadily increasing within Gabon, a major oil producer and member of OPEC. Violent unrest erupted in the country following Mr Bongo’s victory in the 2016 election. In 2019, a coup attempt was barely thwarted by his government and military leaders were sent to jail.

The European Union’s defence ministers are to discuss the latest situation in Gabon, as the bloc said the attempted coup will only add to instability for the region.

“If this is confirmed, it is another military coup which increases instability in the whole region,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep 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.

He said instability in the region is a “big issue for Europe”.

The French prime minister, meanwhile, said they are following the developments in Gabon very closely.

Elisabeth Borne made the comments without providing further details as she addressed a meeting of ambassadors in Paris.

Russia said it was also closely following the developments in the African nation.

The election commission head Michel Stephane Bonda said Mr Bongo won the presidential election with 64.27 per cent of the vote and his challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, secured 30.77 per cent of the votes.

Mr Bongo’s campaign had rejected the opposition party’s allegations of electoral irregularities.

French mining company Eramet said that it is suspending all operations in the country in the wake of Wednesday’s events.

A coup in Gabon would represent the eighth in west and central Africa since 2020. In that period there have been military takeovers in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad and most recently Niger.

West African bloc says 'we are going into Niger' if all else fails

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Written by northsouth

Category: Africa

Published: 17 August 2023

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By Maxwell Akalaare Adombila and Boureima Balima

ACCRA/NIAMEY - The West African bloc ECOWAS stands ready to intervene militarily in Niger should diplomatic efforts to reverse a coup there fail, a senior official told army chiefs who were meeting in Ghana on Thursday to discuss the details of a standby force.

Niger military officers deposed President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 and have defied calls from the United Nations, ECOWAS and Western powers to reinstate him, prompting West African heads of state to order the standby force to be assembled.

"Let no one be in doubt that if everything else fails, the valiant forces of West Africa...are ready to answer to the call of duty," ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah said.

"By all means available, constitutional order will be restored in the country," he told assembled defence chiefs from member countries, listing past ECOWAS deployments in Gambia, Liberia and elsewhere as examples of readiness.

Niger has strategic importance beyond West Africa because of its role as a hub for foreign troops involved in the fight against Islamist insurgents in the Sahel region and its uranium and oil reserves.

Western countries fear the junta could follow the lead of neighbouring Mali, where the military government threw out French troops and instead invited in mercenaries from Russia's Wagner group, which has welcomed the coup in Niger.

In Niger's capital Niamey, where large crowds have taken part in protests against ECOWAS and in favour of the coup leaders, residents rejected the idea of an outside intervention to reinstate the elected president and civilian government.

"I'm not afraid because I know our armed forces are well prepared to deal with any eventuality," said radio technician Omar Yaye.

"ECOWAS is manipulated by foreign powers. When we see the reactions of France since the coup and especially the harshness of ECOWAS I can only think that these are coordinated actions between France and ECOWAS," he said, echoing anti-French rhetoric used by the junta since the coup.

'CAT AND MOUSE'

France, Niger's former colonial ruler, has denied the junta's accusation that it was seeking to destabilise the country or that it had violated its airspace. It has said it supported ECOWAS efforts to restore constitutional order.

French troops, along with U.S., German and Italian forces, are present in Niger as part of international efforts to combat the Islamist insurgents who have caused thousands of deaths and forced millions to flee their homes over the past decade.

Musah rejected the accusation that ECOWAS was being manipulated by France or any other outside power.

"What they forget is that ECOWAS is a rules-based organisation. We have our protocols, we have our norms and we are ready to protect them," he said.

"That's why the heads of state are saying if push comes to shove we are going into Niger with our own contingents, own equipment and our own resources to make sure we restore constitutional order. If other democracy-loving partners want to support us they are welcome," he said.

Musah accused the Niger coup leaders of "playing cat-and-mouse" with ECOWAS by refusing to meet with its envoys and seeking justifications for their takeover of power.

He said most of the bloc's 15 member states were prepared to participate in the standby force that could intervene in Niger. The exceptions were those also under military rule - Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea - and tiny Cape Verde.

Musah criticised the junta's announcement that it had elements to put Bazoum, who is being detained, on trial for treason. The United Nations, European Union and ECOWAS have all expressed concerns over the conditions of his detention.

"The irony of it is that somebody who is in a hostage situation himself...is being charged with treason. When did he commit that high treason is everybody’s guess," Musah said.

West African regional group weighs next steps on Niger

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Written by northsouth

Category: Africa

Published: 12 August 2023

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ABUJA - West African leaders were weighing their next moves on Saturday as they seek to overturn a military coup in Niger that has rocked the region but also triggered a groundswell of support in the country.

Niger's military last month imprisoned President Mohamed Bazoum and assumed power, drawing condemnation from international powers and raising the spectre of further conflict in the impoverished Sahel region of West Africa which is already overrun by a deadly Islamist insurgency.

The regional bloc ECOWAS on Thursday decided to activate a task force drawing on troops from across the region for a possible military intervention to undo what was the seventh coup in West and Central Africa in three years.

At stake is not just the fate of Niger - a major uranium producer and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamists - but also the concerns of global powers with key strategic interests in the semi-desert zone.

U.S., French, German and Italian troops are stationed in Niger to repel local affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State that have killed thousands and displaced millions across the Sahel.

Western powers fear Russian influence could grow stronger if the junta in Niger follows Mali's example by ejecting Western troops and inviting in mercenaries from Russia's Wagner Group.

Thousands of people gathered in Niger's capital on Friday to demonstrate in favour of the coup. The rally began at a French military base in the capital Niamey, then protesters with signs and flags spread onto surrounding streets.

"Long live Russia," one protester's sign read. "Down with France.... Down with ECOWAS," referring to the Economic Community of West African States.

Regional army chiefs were set to meet in the coming days. It was not yet clear how long the ECOWAS force would take to assemble, how big it would be and if it would actually invade. The organisation stressed that all options were on the table and it hoped for a peaceful resolution.

Security analysts said the force could take weeks to set up, potentially leaving room for negotiations.

Meanwhile, the African Union, the European Union, the United States and the United Nations all said they were increasingly worried about Bazoum's detention conditions.

The U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Friday said the conditions were "rapidly deteriorating" and could amount to a violation of international human rights law.