Ali Bongo’s cousin General Nguema sworn in as Gabon’s president

• Prior to the coup last Wednesday, Ali Bongo, who had been in power for nearly 14 years, was declared the winner of a controversial presidential election characterized by voting delays and internet disruptions. Foreign press coverage of the election was also obstructed by the Bongo administration
• General Nguema expressed a desire for a cautious approach to the political transition
  

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During a televised ceremony on Monday, General Brice Nguema, who led a coup that removed President Ali Bongo Ondimba, a cousin of the ousted president, was officially sworn in as Gabon’s interim president by the country’s constitutional court.

The recent military takeover, orchestrated by Nguema, has seemingly disrupted the longstanding political dominance of the Bongo family in Gabon, which has spanned several decades. Ali Bongo, aged 64, assumed power after the lengthy rule of his father, Omar Bongo, who maintained a firm grip on the Central African nation for over four decades until his passing in 2009.

Before last Wednesday’s coup, Ali Bongo, who had been in office for nearly 14 years, was declared the winner of a contentious presidential election marked by voting delays and internet disruptions. Additionally, the Bongo administration had hindered foreign press coverage of the election.

“I swear before God and the Gabonese people to faithfully preserve the republican regime,” said Mr Nguema during his swearing-in ceremony, witnessed by cheering Gabonese on Monday.

“Moving as quickly as possible doesn’t mean organising elections in a rush where we’ll end up with the same mistakes, where the same people will continue in power, and it all comes back to the same thing,” Mr Nguema said.

However, many say Mr Nguema’s regime is more a continuation of Bongo’s dynasty in Gabon, while the international community continue to condemn Mr Bongo’s ouster.

On Friday, Albert Ondo Ossa, the opposition candidate, charged the Gabon military to conclude the counting of the August 26 election and declare him president.

“I’m asking it (military) to restore republican and constitutional order,” Mr Ossa told Le Monde in an interview on Friday.

“The electoral process must be brought to a conclusion, and the results must be announced so that I can become the legitimate president and then the legal president once they have been validated by the Constitutional Court,” said Mr Ossa.

Aside from his call for friends and the international community to “make noise” in a short video after his government was toppled on Wednesday, nothing has been heard from him.