Analysis | Gabon’s wealthy, dynastic leader Ali Bongo thought he could resist Africa’s trend of coups
- Gabon’s president is under house arrest, accused of ‘high betrayal’, embezzlement and corruption
- If successful, Wednesday’s coup in Gabon would be the eighth in west and central Africa in three years
The president of Gabon, Ali Bongo, knew well the threat of military coups in his part of the world. But he swore one wouldn’t happen to him.
“While our continent has been shaken in recent weeks by violent crises, rest assured that I will never allow you and our country Gabon to be hostages to attempts at destabilisation. Never,” Bongo declared in early August as the central African nation marked 60 years of independence from France, almost all of that time with his family in power.
The soldiers who claimed authority said people around Bongo had been arrested for “high betrayal”, embezzlement and corruption, though it was not clear whether the president himself faced those charges.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Bongo said in a brief video shared with media outlets hours after the soldiers’ predawn announcement. In the richly carpeted room where he sat, an image of former South African president Nelson Mandela sat on a bookshelf.