Coup D’etat Strikes Gabon

By Fr. Henry Charles Umelechi

One of the excuses the West gave in supporting the massacre in Biafran war was that a successful Biafran declaration shall lead to many African nations’ similar declaration. However, that’s a major lie ; they were actually afraid that it shall lead to many self declarations in Africa for freedom from foreign/western exploitation. Had they stood for truth against bad governments in Africa, it wouldn’t have been this way, rather, truth was always sacrificed on the table of their acclaimed national self interest.

Fifty Six years later, the truth which they feared would become and but surpressed has risen up in another dimension of coups. Five African countries are already having coups and Gabon recently joined the coup to make it six, such that in a similar teleological narratives, Ononye V.C. reports that “military authorities in Gabon have announced the official taking over of power from Ali Bongo, the democratically elected President.

“The officers appeared on television in the country to say they have seized power in an attempted coup. This is coming after official results showed President Ali Bongo won a third term in office following the country’s election on Saturday.

“But on Wednesday, soldiers announced a cancellation of the result, and the dissolution of the country’s institutions, amid reports of gunfire in the capital Libreville.

“We are putting an end to the current regime,” the soldiers said, according to AFP.

“Earlier, the country’s electoral commission said that Bongo won Saturday’s election with over 64 percent of the vote. Bongo’s family have held power in Gabon for 56 years. Concerns had been raised about the fairness of the election, after the government cut internet access and imposed a nighttime curfew after the vote.

“Gabon would become just the latest country in Africa to experience a military takeover, after members of Niger’s military seized power in late July.

“Gabon also experienced an attempted coup in 2019, when members of its military claimed they had ousted President Bongo, who was receiving medical treatment in Morocco at the time. The government later claimed it had re-asserted its control over the country.

However, one question that must be asked is, “does the solution to bad governance in Africa lie in coup d’etats? Would the recent coups in Africa be different from the previous years of coups in Africa where the coup Lord’s became the problem themselves to be solved.”

In as much as these must be contemplated upon, the truth that doesn’t need much contemplation is that the West is sponsoring corruption and bad governance in Africa directly or indirectly.

August 30, 2023.

Truth Series.

Also read: African Union Takes Action: Niger Republic Suspended Amidst Pressure on Coup Leaders