2023-08-30 06:36:46
Just following the official announcement of Mr. Bongo’s victory with 64.27% of the vote overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, a group of a dozen soldiers appeared on the screens of the Gabon 24 television channel, sheltered within the Presidency itself.
“We, the defense and security forces, gathered within the Committee for the Transition and the Restoration of Institutions (CTRI), on behalf of the Gabonese people and guarantor of the protection of institutions, have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the regime in place”, announced one of these soldiers, a colonel of the regular army, in a statement which was subsequently also broadcast on the state channel Gabon 1ère.
“To this end, the general elections of August 26, 2023 as well as the truncated results are cancelled,” he added.
Among the soldiers were members of the Republican Guard (GR), an elite unit and Praetorian Guard of the presidency recognizable by its green berets, as well as regular army soldiers and police officers. Of the four senior officers in the first rank, two were GR colonels and two were regular army colonels.
“All the institutions of the Republic are dissolved, in particular the government, the Senate, the National Assembly, the Constitutional Court, the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, the Gabonese Election Center”, and Gabon’s borders will remain “closed until ‘on further orders’, announced the authors of the coup.
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