The President of Gabon, Ali Bongo, asked this Wednesday (08.30.2023) for help from the international community from his residence, where he is detained after the military announced this morning that they have seized power in the African country. “I have to send a message to all the friends we have around the world to tell them to make noise, because these people have arrested me and my family,” Bongo said in a video posted on X (Twitter).
Bongo, 64 years old and whose family has ruled the country for more than half a century, appears in the video seated, although with a visible expression of concern. The president added that his wife was “in another place.” “I’m in the (presidential) residence and nothing happens, I don’t know what’s happening,” he said. It is unknown when exactly the video was recorded.
Previously, the coup leaders announced the dissolution of all Gabon’s institutions shortly after the Gabonese electoral commission announced the victory of Bongo, in power since the death of his father in 2009, in the disputed elections held on the 26th. The results They were delivered at dawn, without prior notice and with the country in curfew.
General will lead the transition
The military junta had previously reported that Bongo was under arrest along with his family and his doctor, accused of “high treason” and “massive embezzlement of public funds”, among other crimes. The arrest of one of Bongo’s sons, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, and his chief of staff, Ian Ghislain Ngoulou, among other people close to the Gabonese president, were also announced.
The self-styled Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI) assured that the elections were not transparent, credible or inclusive, and accused the country’s government of governing “irresponsibly and unpredictably”, thus deteriorating “social cohesion”. . The military, who released internet access throughout the country, will meet this day to decide which general will lead the country in the transition.
DZC (EFE, AFP, Reuters)
2023-08-30 14:14:00
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