The African Union (AU) has suspended Gabon’s membership after military officers ousted President Ali Bongo. This move marks the first regional response to the eighth coup in West and Central Africa since 2020. The coup effectively ends the Bongo family’s nearly sixty-year rule, adding a new challenge to a region grappling with a series of coups, which Nigerian President Bola Tinubu described as a “contagion of autocracy.” Gabon joins a list of countries, including Niger Republic, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and Sudan, that have been suspended by the AU.
General Nguema, the leader of the coup, is set to be sworn in at the constitutional court on Monday, according to the army’s announcement on state television. The junta responsible for the coup has declared its commitment to uphold all domestic and international obligations and to gradually establish transitional institutions. European Union (EU) diplomat Josep Borrell condemned the military takeover and stressed that Gabon’s challenges should be resolved in accordance with the rule of law, constitutional order, and democracy. He called for inclusive dialogue as an alternative to force to ensure respect for human rights and the will of the Gabonese people.
The coup occurred when military officers seized power in Gabon, dissolved state institutions, closed the country’s borders, and annulled the recent election that produced Ali Bongo as president. Bongo is currently under house arrest in the Presidential Palace. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, the head of the Presidential Guard, has become Gabon’s interim leader following the military’s decision.
