Kwesi Pratt Jr. has stated that the recent military takeover in Gabon does not surprise him. He said that it was clear that the former President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, was trying hard to stay in power.
On Wednesday, August 30, 2023, during a panel discussion on Good Morning Ghana, Pratt Jr. said the people of Gabon are in favor of the coup because they are tired of being dominated by a single family.
“Who was not expecting a coup d’état in Gabon? I don’t know of one person who was not expecting a coup d’état in Gabon… As a matter of fact, if you look at the measures which were instituted by the government of Ali Bongo in the run-up to the election and after the elections, they all point to panic, severe panic,” he stated
He also predicted that there would be four additional coups in Africa, with at least two occurring before the year 2023 comes to an end.
“I was expecting the coup d’état in Gabon. I’m still expecting coup d’états in four more countries. I think that four more are going to fall very, very soon, possibly before the end of the year. We should expect about 2 or 3 countries to fall, and four more countries are likely to fall.”
“Everybody was expecting this coup d’état in Gabon for many reasons. One family has been in power for 53 long years. And that family has not been in power for 53 long years because it was loved by the people of Gabon; it has been in power because it imposed itself on the people, rigid elections, harassed opposition leaders, banned political parties, arrested trade union leaders, and so on,” he added.
Senior Gabonese military officers went on national television and declared their seizure of power, claiming they represent all of Gabon’s security and defense forces and that they do not believe the results of the recently-held general elections.
They declared the election results null and void, all borders closed indefinitely, and all state institutions dissolved. After the televised appearance, a Reuters reporter claimed to have heard gunfire in Libreville.
After a delayed general election that the opposition branded fraudulent, the Gabonese electoral center announced on Wednesday that incumbent President Ali Bongo had won a third term with 64.27 percent of the vote.
