'He is a normal Gabonese like everyone else' – Coup leader on ousted Ali Bongo

Ousted Ali Bongo and Brice Oligui Nguema

General Brice Oligui Nguema has emphasized that ousted president of Gabon Ali Bongo Ondimba will enjoy all rights accorded former presidents of the oil-rich Central African country.

Nguema, a cousin of Bongo told the French newspaper Le Monde, that despite being under house arrest, Bongo enjoys all rights, describing his as a ‘retired president.’

“He is a Gabonese head of state. He is retired. He enjoys all his rights. He is a normal Gabonese, like everyone else,” Nguema said.

At the time of the interview, Nguema refused to be referred to as leader of the coup but hours later, that designation was formalized.

The Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions, the military junta named him as its substantive leader.

Oligui Nguema is, however, not a stranger to the corridors of power, Gabon's security architecture and the Bongo family.

Information available to GhanaWeb indicates that he is a cousin of Ali Bongo and previously served as aide-de-camp of late president Omar Bongo till his demise in 2009.

Following the announcement of the coup, soldiers under his leadership as head of the presidential security unit (Republican Guard) carried Oligui Nguema shoulder high and celebrated his takeover.

But it was only after a meeting of the coup leaders that his place was cemented as leader of the transition.

"Pursuant to all existing laws concerning the position of head of state, General Oligui Nguema Brice has been designated unanimously as the president of the Committee of the Transition and the Restoration of Institutions. President of the transition," the group's spokesperson Colonel Ulrich Manfoumbi Manfoumbi said in an address flanked by over a dozen officers.

There is currently no information on the timeline of the transition and when new elections will take place.

Key state institutions have been suspended among them, the National Assembly, the Constitutional Court and the Electoral Commission.

General Brice Oligui Nguema- who led today’s coup in Gabon- has been named the country’s transitional leader pic.twitter.com/yC75Z00UHA
— Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) August 30, 2023

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