Following the elections held over the weekend in the Central African country of Gabon, the military took action. They ousted President Ali Bongo, who took over the office from his father Omar Bongo after ruling the country for over 41 years until 2009.
The coup announcement occurred just moments after President Ali Bongo, who was competing for his third term and had been declared the winner with 64% of the votes, was announced as the election victor.
Gabon is a former French colony. Since 2020, military interventions have also occurred in other former French colonies including Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Niger.
This marks the 6th military coup in former French colonies since 2020.
