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Gabon Coup Attempt Failed, Government Says Coup Attempt in Gabon Is Thwarted, Government Says
(about 7 hours later)
Soldiers in Gabon took over state radio in a coup attempt on Monday, but the government said four of the plotters had been arrested and that normalcy would be restored in the Central African nation. DAKAR, Senegal — The government of Gabon quickly beat back a coup attempt on Monday, killing two suspects and arresting eight others after the plotters took over the state radio station in the Central African nation and announced plans for a “national council of restoration,” in a country where one family has held the presidency for almost a half century.
A fifth suspect was on the run, Reuters reported, after soldiers announced plans for a “national council of restoration,” in the oil-rich country, where the ruling Bongo family has been dogged by accusations of corruption and fraud during nearly a half-century in power. President Ali Bongo Ondimba has been out of Gabon since October, receiving medical treatment for what many believe was a stroke he suffered while attending a conference in Saudi Arabia. His absence apparently created what the coup plotters perceived as an opportunity.
Government soldiers swarmed the streets of the capital, Libreville, guarding the national radio and TV stations, and military tanks and armed vehicles were visible, but things appeared to be returning to normal. “The government is in place,” a government spokesman, Guy-Bertrand Mapangou, told France 24. “The institutions are in place.” Shots were heard Monday in the capital, Libreville, but government soldiers soon swarmed the streets and stormed the radio station. Military tanks and armed vehicles were visible, and the authorities sought to project an image of normalcy.
President Ali Bongo Ondimba has been out of Gabon since October while receiving medical treatment for what many believe was a stroke he suffered while attending a conference in Saudi Arabia. He had sought to reassure the nation he was fit during a New Year’s Eve speech televised from Morocco, where he is recuperating. Guy-Bertrand Mapangou, a government spokesman, said Monday afternoon that order had been restored. He said the two suspects had died in the course of being arrested.
Lt. Kelly Ondo Obiang, the leader of the self-declared Patriotic Movement of the Defense and Security Forces of Gabon, said on state radio that the speech “reinforced doubts about the president’s ability to continue to carry out of the responsibilities of his office,” Reuters reported. A video clip of three of the coup plotters at the radio station showed that two were armed, and each wore the military fatigues of junior officers. The government is investigating the group’s motives, Mr. Mapangou said.
“The eagerly awaited day has arrived when the army has decided to put itself on the side of the people in order to save Gabon from chaos,” a soldier said in a video that appeared on social media, Agence France-Presse reported. “If you are eating, stop; if you are having a drink, stop; if you are sleeping, wake up. Wake up your neighbors.” The plotters appeared to be young, low-ranking officers who did not seem to have a meticulous plan. Radio workers said one of them had disrobed a station employee and changed into civilian clothing before fleeing.
Local news outlets reported that shots had been heard in Libreville. Mr. Bongo’s family has long been criticized for enriching itself with proceeds from the country’s oil and mineral wealth while much of its population lives in poverty. Mr. Bongo’s absence has not had a particularly negative effect on the oil-rich country. Its economic growth is slowing, but in past weeks the prime minister has been in charge and daily life has carried on.
The first indication that something was amiss came early Monday in Libreville, when songs from the campaign of Jean Ping, Mr. Bongo’s chief opponent in the 2016 presidential election, were broadcast over national radio. Gabon has been relatively stable in recent decades, but analysts said the coup attempt was a sign of underlying unrest.
A call to the station was answered by Lieutenant Obiang, who said he would announce a coup shortly. He went on the air and did just that, while station employees were held hostage during the broadcast. After government forces stormed the station, one of the soldiers took the clothes of an employee to make his escape. “Even if it was stupid, there’s significantly more political upset in Gabon then there has been,” said Eric Benjaminson, a former United States ambassador to the country, who left in 2013. “It’s a marker for something.”
Conspiracy theories were circulating in Gabon throughout the day, including one that the coup attempt was staged by Mr. Bongo as a way to send a message that he would quash any effort to seize power. “Mr. Bongo needs to return to Gabon,” he said, “and do something positive for the country.”
During his speech on New Year’s Eve, Mr. Bongo said, “It is true that I have been through a difficult period, as sometimes happens in life. Today, as you can see, I am better and I am preparing to meet you again soon.” The video failed to put the matter to rest, with observers noting that Mr. Bongo slurred some words and did not move his right arm. In a New Year’s Eve speech broadcast from Morocco, where Mr. Bongo, 59, was recuperating, the president sought to reassure the nation that he was fit.
Mr. Bongo’s time as president has been accompanied by criticism that he has carried out fraudulent elections, sometimes to violent ends, in hopes of hanging on to power. His father, Omar, was president for 42 years before dying in office in 2009. “It is true that I have been through a difficult period, as sometimes happens in life,” he said. “Today, as you can see, I am better and I am preparing to meet you again soon.”
When Mr. Bongo was first elected to replace his father, logistical issues during an unanticipated election led to accusations of irregularities. Mr. Bongo edged out his opponent, Jean Ping, but the 2016 contest was marred by accusations that the vote counting was tainted by fraud. Observers noted that the president had slurred some words and did not move his right arm.
Protesters at the time set fire to the Parliament building, and the presidential guard was accused of attacking Mr. Ping’s headquarters, killing two people and wounding several others. The first indication that something was amiss in Libreville on Monday came early in the morning, when songs from the campaign of Jean Ping, Mr. Bongo’s chief opponent in the 2016 presidential election, were broadcast over national radio.
Yet Mr. Bongo’s actions to protect his nation’s relatively untouched forests, savannas and coastlines, all teeming with wildlife, earned praise from conservationists. A call to the station during the broadcast was answered by Lt. Kelly Ondo Obiang, the leader of the self-declared Patriotic Movement of the Defense and Security Forces of Gabon, who said he would announce a coup shortly. He went on the air and did just that, while station employees were held hostage during the broadcast.
Mr. Bongo, who served as foreign and defense minister before becoming president, is almost entirely French educated, and is also a jazz musician who years ago released a funk album. Lieutenant Obiang said that Mr. Bongo’s speech from afar had “reinforced doubts about the president’s ability to continue to carry out of the responsibilities of his office.”
With tensions running high after recent presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Trump said on Friday that he had sent about 80 troops to Gabon in case the election dispute made it necessary to evacuate Americans. He continued: “The eagerly awaited day has arrived when the army has decided to put itself on the side of the people in order to save Gabon from chaos. If you are eating, stop; if you are having a drink, stop; if you are sleeping, wake up. Wake up your neighbors.”
Lieutenant Obiang was one of the suspects who was killed, the government said.
Conspiracy theories circulated in Gabon throughout the day, including that the coup attempt had been staged by Mr. Bongo as a way to send a message that he would quash any effort to seize power.
With tensions running high after recent presidential elections in nearby Democratic Republic of Congo, President Trump said on Friday that he had sent about 80 troops to Gabon in case the election dispute made it necessary to evacuate Americans.
A spokesman for the United States Africa Command said that American troops in Libreville “had no involvement whatsoever” with either the coup plotters or the Gabonese military and government during the coup attempt.
Mr. Bongo’s family has long been criticized for enriching itself with proceeds from the country’s oil and mineral wealth while much of its population lived in poverty.
And Mr. Bongo’s time as president has been accompanied by criticism that he has carried out fraudulent elections, sometimes to violent ends, in hopes of hanging onto power. His father, Omar, was president for 42 years before dying in office in 2009.
When Mr. Bongo was first elected to replace his father, logistical issues during an unanticipated vote led to accusations of irregularities. In the 2016 contest, Mr. Bongo edged out his opponent, Mr. Ping, but the election was marred by accusations of fraudulent vote counting.
Protesters at the time set fire to Parliament, and the presidential guard was accused of attacking Mr. Ping’s headquarters, killing two people and wounding several others.
Yet Mr. Bongo’s actions to protect his nation’s relatively untouched forests, savannas and coastlines, all teeming with wildlife, earned praise from conservationists. He is a fixture at international climate change conferences and created one of the largest protected marine areas in the world.
Mr. Bongo, who served as foreign and defense minister before becoming president, is almost entirely French educated. He is also a jazz musician; his mother was a famous singer. In the 1970s, Mr. Bongo released a funk album, “A Brand New Man.”