It has now been established that the infamous coup staged in Gabon on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, was masterminded by Ali Bongo’s own cousin Brice Oligui Nguema.
Brice is the commander-in-chief of the Gabonese Republican Guard, which is the country’s most powerful security unit. According to a report by aljazeera.com, Nguema, who is a cousin of Bongo, played a significant role in the overturn of the election outcome.
Nguema’s career has been marked by a combination of military expertise, diplomatic missions, and entrepreneurial ventures. He was raised in a military family and attended the Royal Military Academy of Meknes in Morocco, where he served as an “aide-de-camp” to a commander within the Republican Guard during the tenure of former President Omar Bongo.
After Ali Bongo rose to power, Nguema went on diplomatic missions to Morocco and Senegal before assuming leadership of the Republican Guard a decade later. The Republican Guard is responsible for ensuring presidential security, and Nguema is known to have composed a song expressing his commitment to defending the president with “honor and loyalty.”
He is also believed to be an entrepreneur and a millionaire, with real estate investments in the United States. In an interview with French daily Le Monde, Nguema expressed concern over Ali Bongo’s health following a stroke in 2018 and accused the government of violating the constitution and the election process.
He proposed a transition of power, suggesting that Bongo could retire and enjoy his rights as a Gabonese citizen. Currently, President Ali Bongo is under house arrest following the annulled election where he secured over 64% of the vote.
Gabon Coup
According to a BBC report, a group of army officers in Gabon made a public announcement on national television, declaring that they have taken control of the country. They stated that they were nullifying the results of the recent presidential election, which declared Ali Bongo the winner.
The opposition had accused the election of being fraudulent. The overthrow of Bongo would end his family’s 53-year reign in Gabon. Gabon is a significant oil producer in Africa, and its land is mostly covered by forests. It recently joined the Commonwealth in June 2022, becoming one of the few members that was not a British colony.
The announcement was made by twelve soldiers on Wednesday morning, who also declared the dissolution of all the institutions of the republic. They further stated that the country’s borders have been closed until further notice. If confirmed, this would be the eighth coup in former French colonies in Africa in the past three years.
However, most of the others have been in the Sahel region, where an Islamist insurgency has led to rising complaints that democratically elected governments are failing to protect civilian populations. The French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, stated that her country is closely monitoring the situation, while the European Union’s foreign policy chief warned that a military takeover would increase instability in Africa.
