Military Coup Rocks Gabon as Officers Seize Power After Disputed Election

Dra­mat­ic scenes unfold­ed in Gabon’s cap­i­tal Libre­ville as mil­i­tary offi­cers launched a coup to over­throw the gov­ern­ment in a tele­vised announcement. 

Shocked cit­i­zens lis­tened as gun­shots rang out and a group of elite Repub­li­can Guard sol­diers declared they were can­celling the elec­tion results and dis­solv­ing all gov­ern­ment institutions.

Led by a steely-eyed colonel, the offi­cers accused Pres­i­dent Ali Bon­go’s regime of plung­ing the oil-rich cen­tral African nation into a “seri­ous cri­sis”. They slammed the recent vote as nei­ther “trans­par­ent” nor “cred­i­ble”, insist­ing the peo­ple want­ed change from Bon­go’s 14-year author­i­tar­i­an rule.

As troops patrolled the streets and shut down bor­ders, ten­sions mount­ed over the dis­put­ed poll where Bon­go con­tro­ver­sial­ly claimed a third term with 64% of bal­lots. His main chal­lenger Albert Ondo Ossa cried foul, alleg­ing fraud and insist­ing he had clear­ly won based on a par­tial count.

With the inter­net cut off to silence dis­sent, unease swirled that the coup could trig­ger unrest or a pow­er strug­gle. Sup­port­ers of the mil­i­tary takeover praised the offi­cers for defend­ing democ­ra­cy, while back­ers of the incum­bent slammed the move as illegal.

As the world watch­es Gabon, many wor­ry this coup could desta­bi­lize the region. Oth­ers spec­u­late it may open the doors for a new polit­i­cal future. But with bor­ders closed and the full strength of the mil­i­tary still unclear, uncer­tain­ty reigns over who holds the reins of pow­er in the coup-struck nation.

One thing is cer­tain — Bon­go’s high­ly dis­put­ed elec­tion has tak­en a dra­mat­ic turn that has shocked Gabon and could shake up its pol­i­tics for years to come. In seiz­ing con­trol so swift­ly, these offi­cers may have lit the fuse on some­thing much larger.