Julius Caesar
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General Brice Oligui Nguema fondly called Julius Caesar is the new leader of the central African nation of Gabon
Officers from the Gabonese Armed Forces have appointed the chief of the Republican Guard, General Brice Oligui Nguema, as the Central African country’s new ruler following the ouster of President Ali Bongo in a coup on Wednesday.
Nguema was chosen to lead the former French colony’s transition council after a meeting of commanders-in-chief of the Security and Safety Forces, according to local media.
Prior to his appointment, the coup leader was carried through the streets of Libreville by jubilant soldiers. Nguema previously served the country’s long-time former president, Omar Bongo, before working with his son, Ali Bongo.
Earlier on Wednesday, army officers from the oil-rich African country declared on national television that they had taken control of Libreville.
Video grab showing soldiers holding General Brice Oligui Nguema known as Julius Caesar aloft in Libreville, Gabon, on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. AP
The announcement came shortly after the Gabonese Election Centre (CGE) indicated Bongo had won a third term with 64.27% of the vote in the presidential election.
The coup leaders declared that the election results had been canceled and that all state institutions had been dissolved, essentially bringing an end to almost six decades of rule by the Bongo family.
In a later statement, the coup leaders said the overthrown president had been placed under house arrest, while his son Noureddin Bongo Valentin, as well as certain government officials, had been arrested for “high treason.”
Nguema, who spoke on behalf of the coup leaders in the hours following the military takeover, told the French newspaper Le Monde that the detained Bongo was “retired,” but would “enjoy all his rights” as a “normal Gabonese.”
He underscored the “discontent” in Gabon and Bongo’s “illness”, referring to a stroke in 2018.
Nguema has been chief of the republican guard, the country’s most powerful army unit, since 2019, with close sources describing him as charismatic and respected.
Born to a Fang father, Gabon’s main ethnic group, Nguema, 48, mostly grew up with his mother in Haut-Ogooue province, a Bongo stronghold.
Nguema served as an aide-de-camp to Ali Bongo’s father, Omar Bongo, who ruled Gabon with an iron fist for almost 42 years until his death in 2009.
As the keystone of Gabon’s security forces, the bald and athletically built Nguema pushed Ali Bongo to improve his men’s working and living conditions by upgrading their facilities, funding schools for soldiers’ children and refurbishing accommodations.
The measures earned him respect and sympathy from his colleagues, according to the PDG source.
“He isn’t very talkative, but very appreciated by his men. He’s a Julius Caesar, and Julius Caesar cares for the comfort of his legionaries,” a source said, referring to the Roman general.
Bongo has appealed to the local and international communities to intervene, despite crowds in Libreville and elsewhere in the nation of 2.3 million celebrating his overthrow.
The Central Africa’s political bloc, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), condemned the coup in a statement published on Thursday.
The bloc criticized the “use of force as a means of resolving political conflicts and access to power.” It announced an “imminent” meeting of regional heads of state, as well as peace and security chiefs, to determine “the way forward.”
The African Union Commission’s Political Affairs, Peace and Security Department “strongly condemns the military takeover of power” in Gabon and “decides to immediately suspend the participation of Gabon in all activities of the AU, its organs and institutions … until the restoration of constitutional order in the country,” said the AU in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Gabon’s main opposition alliance urged the military officers who seized power to continue the election process and finish counting the presidential vote, which it said was falsely awarded to Bongo before the count was completed.
The opposition Alternance 2023 alliance had been silent after the coup but on Thursday “invited the defence and security forces to the discussion so as to work out … the best solution” following the vote.
Led by university professor Albert Ondo Ossa, Alternance had earlier accused Bongo of “fraud” and demanded he hand over power “without bloodshed”.
Source AFP/Reuters/RT
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