By Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
Gabon has become the eighth African country to join the coup queue after the Military announced today on national television that they have taken over the administration of the country with former president, Ali Bongo Ondimba facing a house arrest.
In an interview on GBC’s Focus Programme, an International Relations Analyst at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy, Nana Yaw Mireku mentioned that, the major cause for the recent military takeover in Gabon is the presence of democratic retrogression.
According to him, even though gradual security deterioration has been cited as one reason behind the Junta, there is a strong deterioration of the popular will of the people within all the countries that have experienced Coups recently and Gabon is no exception. He added that the fact that this attempt is not the first attempt in Gabon shows clearly that the country and its people are not content with democratic practices and election processes in the country.
Ali Bongo Ondimba, has been the president of Gabon from 2009 after the death of his father Omar Bongo who governed the country for forty-two years. The power transfer in the country looks like a political dynasty being built around the Bongo family. This Nana Yaw Mireku explains as a practice that the Gabon nationals are tired of and fed up with, which explains the jubilation they had after the announcement of the coup.
He further said that the French support towards these countries who have over the period undergone military takeovers is unquestionable. He explained that the French have over the years supported the reign of the Bongo family even though they are aware of the democratic recession in the country.
