BREAKING: Wind of Coup consumes another African president 

…AU, ECOWAS yet to respond

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

The recent upsurge in military takeover of power in Africa through coup d’etat has consumed President Ali Bongo, of Gabon after his avowed efforts to continue his family’s grip on power in the last 56 years.

President Bongo, who came to power after the death of his father in 2009, was declared winner of Saturday’s election when he won a third term in an election which opposition heavily disputed.

Reuters has reported of tensions running high amid fears of unrest after Saturday’s presidential, parliamentary, and legislative vote, which saw Bongo seeking to extend his family’s 56-year grip on power while the opposition pushed for change in the oil and cocoa-rich but poverty-stricken nation.

A lack of international observers, the suspension of some foreign broadcasts, and the authorities’ decision to cut internet service and impose a night-time curfew nationwide after the poll raised concerns about the transparency of the electoral process.

The BBC quoted soldiers to have appeared on Gabonese national television in Gabon to say they had taken power and annulled Saturday’s election.

The development comes amid the move to resolve the crisis in Niger Republic following the removal of democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.

Both the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and African Union (AU), which have rejected the coup in Niger, are yet to react to the situation in Gabon as of the time of filing this report as developments are still unfolding.

His father Albert Bernard Bongo, who later changed his name to Omar Bongo Ondimba, was the second President of Gabon who ruled for 42 years from 1967 until he died in 2009.
His mother was Josephine Kama later Patience Dabany. A 1973 conversion to Islam resulted in the family name changes.