African Union decides to ‘immediately suspend’ Gabon after coup
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A defaced campaign billboard of ousted Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba, in Libreville.
PHOTO: AFP
NAIROBI – The African Union’s (AU) Peace and Security Council said on Thursday it had decided to “immediately suspend” Gabon following the military coup this week.
The body said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it “strongly condemns the military takeover of power in the Republic of Gabon which ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba on Aug 30, 2023”.
It has decided “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”.
The announcement came after a meeting of the council on the situation in Gabon following Wednesday’s coup that followed disputed elections in which Mr Bongo was declared the winner.
It said the meeting was chaired by AU commissioner for political affairs Bankole Adeoye of Nigeria and the current holder of the council’s rotating chair, Burundi’s Willy Nyamitwe.
On Wednesday, the head of the AU Commission, Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat, had called on the Gabonese army and security forces “to guarantee the physical integrity” of Mr Bongo, who the coup leaders said had been placed under house arrest.
Mr Faki also condemned the coup and said the events in Gabon were a “flagrant violation” of the legal and political instruments of the Addis Ababa-headquartered AU.
He said on X that he “encourages all political, civil and military actors in Gabon to favour peaceful political paths leading to the rapid return to democratic constitutional order in the country”.
Earlier in August, the AU took similar action to suspend Niger after a coup in the West African country in July that toppled elected President Mohamed Bazoum. AFP
