Who is the new leader of Gabon?

Army officers who seized power in a coup in Gabon on Wednesday, August 30th 2023, named General Brice Oligui Nguema as Gabon’s transitional leader.

General Nguema was earlier carried triumphally through the streets of the capital Libreville by his troops.

General Nguema served as an aide-de-camp to the ousted leader’s father, Omar Bongo, who governed for nearly 42 years before passing away in 2009.

He began his career as a military attache in Gabon’s embassies in Morocco and Senegal under Ali Bongo.

However, in 2018, he was appointed intelligence chief of Gabon’s elite republican guard, replacing Ali Bongo’s half-brother Frederic Bongo, before being promoted to general.

Ali Bongo, the deposed president, appeared in a video at his residence, urging his “friends all over the world” to “make noise” on his behalf.

The former French colony is a major oil producer in Africa. Mr Bongo’s deposition ended his family’s 55-year reign.

Army officers emerged on television in the early hours of Wednesday to declare victory. They claimed to have overturned the results of the election held on Saturday, August 26, 2023, in which Mr Bongo was declared the winner but the opposition said was fraudulent.