Just a month after the military in the Republic of Niger ousted a democratically elected president in a coup d’etat, their counterpart in Gabon announced on television that they had cancelled the country’s election and had seized power.
With the coup in Gabon, seven African countries are currently under military rule: Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Sudan and Mali.
The coup in Gabon came as the country was rounding off voting in the general election that took place on August 26 general elections.
Described as the CTRI (Committee of Transition and Restoration of Institutions), the military officers based their actions on the grave political crises rocking the country due to irresponsible governance.
“Today, our country is going through a grave political crisis due to irresponsible, unforeseeable governance that has resulted in the steady degradation of social cohesion which risks leading the country to chaos.
“So, we have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the regime in power”, they said.
The coup ended the reign of President Ali Bongo, who has been in office since 2009 when he succeeded his Father, Omar Bongo.
Bongo, who was seeking a third term in office, was declared the winner by Gabon’s electoral umpire with 64 percent of the total votes cast at the Saturday’s election.
The military has also announced the closure of the border till further notice and that it has dissolved all state institutions, including the Parliament, the electoral commission, the constitutional court and the Presidency.
The problem, however, started when the opposition and the military rejected the declared result on the grounds that the figure was manipulated.
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