- cross-posted to:
- africa
- cross-posted to:
- africa
"Gabon military officers claim power, say election lacked credibility Television announcement comes shortly after state election body announces incumbent Ali Bongo had won a third term as president.
A group of senior military officers has gone on national television in Gabon saying they have seized power because elections held over the weekend were not credible.
The officers, appearing on Gabon24 in the early hours of Wednesday morning, said they had cancelled the elections, dissolved all state institutions and closed the country’s borders.
They said they represented all security and defence forces of Gabon.
The announcement came shortly after the state election body said President Ali Bongo Ondimba had won a third term in office in Saturday’s disputed elections.
“In the name of the Gabonese people … we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” the officers said.
The Gabonese Election Centre said Bongo had secured 64.27 percent of the vote compared with 30.77 percent for his main challenger Albert Ondo Ossa, after a process beset by delays.
Further Context: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/08/26/gabon-will-ali-bongo-ondimba-rule-for-another-five-years_6108971_4.html
The extremely short version is that he accepted a life of luxury bankrolled by the French in exchange for inducing poverty on his nation with aggressively extractive economic policies to the primary benefit of the French petroleum (and previously nuclear) industries. He’s also the son of a French-appointed dictator who is basically continuing his father’s platform to a tee.
Here’s a fun little one-off story about the Bongo family https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/member-gabons-ruling-family-pascaline-bongo-puts-la-mansion-sale-14m-1610426 very Trump-style stuffing of the cabinet with family and funneling government funds into property for them to hold onto and also use
here’s a story about Ali Bongo himself https://web.archive.org/web/20171117004922/http://observers.france24.com/en/20141223-luxury-cars-gabon-presidency-bongo-ali
Don’t forget that he was also in the process of selling out his country to China. Very telling company he keeps.
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/202304/t20230422_11063752.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x6b7JFsuJo