There's a coup in #Gabon and I didn't know about it! Mastodon has to fix its news problem otherwise it's beginning to feel like a silo of sorts..... or perhaps its just that the African presence here is very limited?
Some initial observations on Africa's latest coup, in #Gabon:
Gabon is more like Guinea than Niger, in that the coup is an undemocratic response to an already undemocratic rule: Neither #Guinea's nor Gabon's elections were remotely credible. As a result, while the coup remains illegitimate, it is unlikely that long-time ruler Ali Bongo will find the level of international and domestic support that #Niger's Bazoum still enjoys.
Brice Nguema is a ringleader in today's morning coup, he is a cousin to Ali Bongo, ousted leader of a country with a population of 2.3 million people, #Gabon.
The guy is also so rich that he have property worth of around 1m USD in United States.
🇬🇦 Appel à l'équipe : qui connaît quelqu'un qui est à Libreville, ou ailleurs au #Gabon ?
Ce soir, dans le cadre du live que je préparre depuis ce matin au sujet du coup d'état qui a eu lieu au Gabon, j'aimerais pouvoir entendre/voir quelqu'un qui est au Gabon pour qu'il/elle nous parle de son ressenti etc etc
Avec la rentrée, je vais essayer d'avoir des intervenants dans un max de lives... je ferai donc régulièrement appel à vous ;)
It's Wednesday, August 30th and Stuff has Happened.
We've got a new Lady of Carbisdale Castle. Also, India will discover that the moon is haunted, Gabon's military has taken control, someone stole money from a very high up box, and a porcupine was shipwrecked.
Je n'arrive plus à retrouver quelles agences publicitaire (Havas, bva...) s'occupait directement de campagnes électorales en Afrique. Si vous avez des ressources merci à vous de les partager. #gabon
Africa Facts Zone: #Gabon's former President Omar Bongo had 70 bank accounts, 39 apartments, 2 Ferraris, 6 Mercedes Benz cars, 3 Porsches and a Bugatti in France.
In the past few years, #Guinea 🇬🇳, #Mali 🇲🇱, #BurkinaFaso 🇧🇫, #Niger 🇳🇪 & now Gabon 🇬🇦 have seen coups, in which the new military governments embrace authoritarianism & (usually) #Russia 🇷🇺.
#France 🇫🇷 is also partially to blame for this, but that is another topic for another day.
@mpjgregoire The coup factors are related. #France 🇫🇷 controls (or should I say controlled) the currencies of both #Mali 🇲🇱 & #Gabon 🇬🇦 via the CFA Franc.
These coups are happening in former French 🇫🇷 colonies which is alarming the other non-French speaking countries in #Africa.
ℹ️ Update: Metrics show that internet connectivity has been largely restored in #Gabon after military officers seized power; the nationwide blackout had been imposed on election weekend by President Ali Bongo, who is now under house arrest 📈
#Gabon President Bongo, apparently under house arrest after rebel military officers seized power today, appears in a video from an unknown location asking his friends from all over the world "to make noise" on his behalf. https://youtu.be/1cW3uTzMjJk?feature=shared
AP: While #Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba called on people to “make noise” to support him, crowds instead took to the streets of the capital and sang the national anthem to celebrate the coup attempt against a dynasty accused of getting rich on the country’s resource wealth while many of its citizens struggle to scrape by.
"We condemn any efforts by militaries to take power by force," US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, tells reporters about the apparent coup in #Gabon.
#UN Secretary-General Guterres condemns the ongoing coup attempt in #Gabon, according to his spokesman, and calls on the military in the African country to guarantee the "physical integrity" of the the president and his family.