In the wake of the recent military coup that shook Gabon, the coup leaders have announced the selection of General Brice Oligui Nguema as the new transitional president of the nation.
General Nguema, who holds the position of chief of the Republican Guard, has been designated to head the transitional government following the military takeover that occurred after the contentious elections.
“General Oligui Nguema Brice was unanimously appointed chairman of the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions, chairman of the transition,” announced a senior officer in the presence of numerous high-ranking officers in a press release broadcasted on Gabon 24.
Meanwhile, following his selection, Gen Nguema was seen carried triumphally through the streets of the capital Libreville by his troops, as reported by BBC and Reuters.
He told France’s Le Monde newspaper that Gabonese people had had enough of Ali Bongo’s rule, and that he should not have run for a third term.
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“Everyone talks about this but no one takes responsibility,” he said. “So the army decided to turn the page.”
Gen Nguema, 48, was absent from the first three statements read out by senior army officers on national television to announce the coup.
But he was named transitional leader soon after, and was carried through the streets in jubilant scenes.
He was aide-de-camp to the ousted leader’s father, Omar Bongo, who ruled for almost 42 years until his death in 2009.
A former close colleague told AFP news agency that Gen Nguema had been extremely close to Omar Bongo, serving him from 2005 until his death in a Spanish hospital.
Under Ali Bongo he first worked as a military attache at Gabon’s embassies in Morocco and Senegal.
But in 2018 he was made intelligence chief under the elite republican guard – Gabon’s most powerful army unit – replacing Ali Bongo’s half-brother Frederic Bongo, before getting promoted to general.