The coup in Gabon has deepened concerns at various levels regarding status in the continent where jitters have rippled and the political landscape has become unstable threatening some powers' interests.
Africans had barely taken a sigh of relief due to the recent coup in Niger, when military generals in Gabon chose the same path, ousting the regime of Ali Bongo who had just won a new term in office according to elections' results.
Bongo had succeeded his father Omar in ruling the nation keeping the family's grip on power for up to 56 years until the military junta took the move, held him against his will and dissolved all key government departments. The military leaders claimed that the elections were rigged.
His father Omar ruled the country between 1967 and 2009. Ali won elections in 2016. Keen to secure a second term in office, he had amended the constitution to allow the head of the state to re-run for the office.
Last Saturday, senior officers of the various military and security forces joined hands to end the protracted rule of the Bongo dynasty.
The military chiefs declared that they would run state affairs within an interim commission, closed the borders, dissolved the government and the parliament.
Commander of the Republican Guards General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema was picked up as the head of the interim ruling body and declared Bong as "retired," placing him under house arrest.
Defiantly, the toppled president managed somehow to reach the public opinion via a video clip, appealed to the world to rescue his regime.
Gabon is rich in oil, minerals and fish. However, one Gabonese among three live under the line of poverty.
The country is the fourth to witness such a dramatic turmoil following Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.
There have been warnings by more powerful and stable African nations to intervene militarily and restore "democratically elected" leaders, However words have remained much larger than action.
Moreover, observers note that the shaking landscape across Africa is threatening interests of great powers such as France that has a long colonial history in the continent.
Moreover, the political status is quite complex in view of emerging powers on the arena, namely China, Russia and Turkey, all struggling to expand investments and interests in the continent.
Source: Kuwait News Agency
