Members of the Republican Guard, members of the president's Praetorian Guard, army soldiers, and police officers in Gabon announced on the country's state television on Wednesday that they will be taking over after President Ali Bongo Ondimba was reelected for the third term.
A soldier, representing the Committee of Transition and Restoration of Institutions, said that due to the "irresponsible, unpredictable governance, resulting in a continuing deterioration in social cohesion that risks leading the country into chaos ... we have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime."
Hours earlier, the national election authorities revealed Bongo won with 64.27% of the votes, while his opponent Albert Ondo garnered 30.77% of the votes, with 56.65% of the population going to the polls. In 2019, Bongo's government already faced an attempted coup.
