Gunfire heard in Gabon capital as military says it has seized power in coup

Military officers have appeared on national TV in Gabon to say they have seized power in the central African nation, shortly after the results of a recent general election were announced.

Loud gunfire was reported across the Gabonese capital Libreville in the early hours of August 30, The Independent reports.

Around 12 Gabonese soldiers took over a television channel’s broadcast to announce that they were dissolving “all the institutions of the republic” and said they represented all security and defence forces in Gabon.

A soldier on TV channel Gabon 24 declared: “We have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime.”

The military announced all borders of the country have been closed until further notice.

The apparent coup comes as President Ali Bongo was declared the winner of the country’s presidential election, handing him a third term in power.

The results of the elections had been delayed since Saturday as the opposition claimed it was marred by fraud.

The Gabonese Election Centre (CGE) announced that Mr Bongo secured just under two-thirds of votes cast.

The seizure of power by the Gabonese army would end the Bongo family’s five-decade grip on power in the country.

Mr Bongo took the reins of the oil-rich and poverty-stricken nation in 2009 after the death of his father Omar Bango, who ruled the country for 42 years.

The government has so far issued no comment on Wednesday morning’s developments.

Concerns about the transparency of the electoral process had been raised in the absence of international observers, with the government shutting down internet services and enforcing a nationwide curfew at night following the election.

The election commission head Michel Stephane Bonda said Mr Bongo won the presidential election with 64.27 per cent of the vote and his challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, secured 30.77 per cent of the votes.

Mr Bongo’s campaign had rejected the opposition party’s allegations of electoral irregularities.

A coup in Gabon would represent the eighth in west and central Africa since 2020. In that period there have been military takeovers in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad and most recently Niger.

On 26 July, the military in Niger toppled President Mohamed Bazoum’s government, an important Western ally, sending shockwaves across the Sahel region.