As the world, particularly the West African sub-continent of its component is still pondering over what the coup that occurred in Niger Republic in July means to humanity, Gabon military officers had yesterday, August 29, 2023, in a televised announcement declared coup after Ali Bongo wins disputed Election. The announcement comes after electoral authorities said the presidential incumbent had won third term in office.

As gathered from various news platforms, a group of senior Gabonese military officers have appeared on national television declaring they have seized power, claiming the recent general election lacks credibility, and saying they represent all Gabon’s security and defense forces.

According to Reuters, “The election results were cancelled, all borders closed until further notice and state institutions dissolved. Loud sounds of gunfire could be heard in the capital, Libreville, after television appearance, and “It was not immediately possible to reach the government for comment.

“In the name of the Gabonese people… we have decided to defend the peace by putting an end to the current regime,” the officers said on television.

Given the foregoing retrogressive development in Africa, and for the fact that Gabon is not part of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), it is expedient in this context to look at the underlying factors that are fueling coup in the African continent. The need to look at the factors cannot be pooh-poohed as the coup would represent the eighth in West and Central Africa since 2020 in the Continent. For instance, coups have in the recent years being recorded in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad and Niger, and all have undermined democratic progress in the African sub-continent.

Pondering over the coup, one of the reasons given by the military juntas, and need to be looked into and addressed by the leadership of the ECOWAS, is that of transparency and credibility in elections, even though Gabon is not a member of the community but the reason resonates in West African countries. 

In fact, political leaders in West African countries, particularly Nigeria, should always have it at the back of their minds that free and fair elections are the cornerstone of every democracy and the primary mechanism for exercising the principle of sovereignty of the people and are therefore a crucial requirement for good governance in any democracy. Indeed, section 14(2) (a) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (amended) does not give but merely acknowledges that “Sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority.” An element of this sovereign right is expressed when the people choose those who govern them in a free and fair election.

According to the Gabonese Election Centre, the incumbent president, Ali Bongo, won a third term in the presidential election with 64.27% of the vote, after a delay-plagued general election that the opposition denounced as fraudulent.

As gathered, while announcing the result, the elections head, Michel Stephane Bonda, said Bongo’s main challenger, Albert Ondo Ossa, came second with 30.77%. Bongo’s team rejected Ondo Ossa’s allegations of electoral irregularities.

One of the reasons given for the intervention by the coup plotters is the absence of international observers during the election, and the suspension of some foreign broadcasts coupled with the authorities’ decision to cut internet service and impose a night-time curfew nationwide after the poll had raised concerns about the transparency of the electoral process.

In a similar vein, another factor which from all indication is undemocratic is the tendency for African leaders to hold on to power as if it is hereditary. Regarding the case of Gabon, which is no doubt the subject matter of this piece, tensions ran high amid fears of unrest after Saturday’s presidential and parliamentary elections, which saw Bongo seeking to extend his family’s 56-year grip on power while the opposition pushed for change in the oil and cocoa-rich but poverty-stricken nation.

Even if Nigeria is yet to record family-hold-on-to-power at the presidential level, it is an undemocratic trend that need to be shielded from happening. Without a doubt, Africa has been having the experiences as seven countries on the continent have had both father and son (and one brother) lead the country: Botswana, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Gabon, Togo, Mauritius, and Malawi (Morocco and Swaziland are excluded from the list since they are kingdoms). In each of these cases, the succession process has been different, as has the interim between father and son.

Whether the recent coup in Gabon is going to be successful or not is another kettle of fish. However, it seems so as the group have declared themselves members of the “Committee of Transition and the restoration of institutions”. The state institutions they declared dissolved included the government, the senate, the national assembly, the constitutional court and the election body.

Be that as it may, it is expedient to in this context to opine that the lack of legitimacy and accountability are at the root of many of Africa’s armed conflicts, reflecting an inability of these political systems to accommodate participation, contestation, and power-sharing.

To my view, this undemocratic trend should at all cost be avoided in African continent, particularly by the leadership of the ECOWAS that is at the moment battling with how to restore peace in Niger. After all, an African proverb has it that “He who fetched ant-infested firewood should be ready to dine with lizards”.