The government of Namibia has condemned the coup d’état in Gabon toppling the democratically-elected government, and the detention of president Ali Bongo Ondimba and his family on 30 August 2023.
Brice Oligui Nguema, commander-in-chief of the Gabonese Republican Guard, was named as the transitional leader of the Central African country on Wednesday night following a coup.
The national electoral body announced earlier in the day that President Ali Bongo had won a third term. However, the military declared on state television that the election results were cancelled, and placed Bongo under house arrest.
Leaders of the Gabonese military agreed by unanimous vote to appoint Nguema as president of the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), said Ulrich Manfoumbi Manfoumbi, the committee’s spokesperson.
Nguema ordered the reconnection of the optical fibre, and the restoration of radio and television signals. He stressed the need to maintain calm and serenity in the country and preserve stability and dignity.
Traffic restrictions between 18h00 local time on Wednesday and 06h00 the following day remain in effect until further notice, the spokesperson said.
Earlier in the day, a group of officers claimed, on behalf of the CTRI, to have seized power to “put an end to the regime in place.” The announcement came after Gabon’s national electoral body said on the same day that Bongo from the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party was re-elected for a third term in Saturday’s election.
In a televised statement, the officers said the election results were cancelled, state institutions dissolved, and all borders closed until further notice.
In another statement released Wednesday, the military said “President Ali Bongo is kept under house arrest, surrounded by his family and his doctors.” The officers said the son of the president, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, and several other senior officials close to Bongo were arrested.
In a video clip released Wednesday afternoon, Bongo said he is at his residence, while his wife and son are in other places.
“Nothing is happening. I don’t know what is going on. So, I am calling on you to make noise, make noise, make noise really. I’m thanking you,” said Bongo in his first public appearance after the coup.
According to local media, gunfire was heard in the capital of Libreville.
Ali Bongo, 64, once served as minister of defence and other posts in the government. He was elected president of the Gabonese Republic in 2009, and was re-elected in 2016. In January 2019 when Bongo was in Morocco recovering from a stroke, a group of soldiers broke into the national radio station in Libreville, and announced the establishment of a “national council of the restoration.” The government foiled the coup attempt, as security forces soon took over the radio station and detained the soldiers.
The international community has voiced concerns over Wednesday’s coup in Gabon.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by Namibia’s Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, executive director Penda Naanda said Namibia remains resolute in its stance of zero tolerance on acceding to power through unconstitutional means.
“This is in line with the principles of the African Union (AU), the AU Constitutive Act, and the African Charter on Democratic Elections and Governance, which calls for the condemnation and rejection of unconstitutional change of government, and is in agreement with the AU’s commitment to ‘Silencing of the Guns in Africa’,” he added.
Naanda stated that Namibia demanded the immediate release of president Ondimba, the restoration of constitutional order, and the return of government to civilian rule.
Namibia also called upon the international community to extend all possible support to the people of Gabon in their quest to find a democratic solution to the current situation, and to restore sustained peace and stability in Gabon.
-Nampa/Xinhua