Basic Brice Oligui Nguema, named Gabon’s new chief following a coup, loyally served the central African nation’s longtime strongman earlier than turning on his son in Wednesday’s 30 August 2023 navy takeover.
Held aloft triumphantly by his troops following the announcement of the coup that ended 55 years of rule by the Bongo household, the elite republican guard chief is skilled and common amongst his friends.
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The coup try occurred after disputed elections
Gabon’s coup leaders appointed him after toppling President Ali Bongo Ondimba following Saturday’s disputed elections, by which the incumbent was awarded a 3rd time period with 64.27 per cent of the vote.
Mentioned to be discreet and secretive, Nguema was absent from the primary three statements learn out by senior military officers on nationwide tv to announce the coup.
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However whereas Bongo was confined to accommodate arrest, he emerged as Africa’s newest navy chief amid jubilant celebrations within the streets of the capital, Libreville and the financial hub of Port-Gentil.
Born to a Fang father, Gabon’s fundamental ethnic group, Nguema, 48, principally grew up together with his mom in Haut-Ogooue province, a Bongo stronghold.
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Is it a household rule in Gabon?
Nguema received his spurs as an aide-de-camp to the ousted chief’s father, Omar Bongo, who dominated Gabon with an iron fist for nearly 42 years till his demise in 2009.
“He’s somebody who is aware of the Gabonese navy equipment very effectively, soldier, skilled at good navy faculties,” together with Morocco’s Meknes Royal Army Academy, a member of Bongo’s Gabonese Democratic Get together (PDG) mentioned on situation of anonymity.
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A former shut colleague informed AFP that Nguema was extraordinarily near Bongo senior, serving him from 2005 till his demise in a Barcelona hospital.
However Nguema was moved apart in 2009 after Ali Bongo was elected to succeed his father, starting a 10-year stint as a navy attache at Gabon’s embassies in Morocco and Senegal.
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Nguena returned to fame in 2018
He returned to prominence in 2018 because the republican guard’s intelligence chief, changing Ali Bongo’s half-brother Frederic Bongo, earlier than getting promoted to basic six months later.
The bald and athletically constructed basic has been chief of the republican guard, the nation’s strongest military unit, since 2019, with shut sources describing him as charismatic and revered.
Because the keystone of Gabon’s safety forces, Nguema pushed Bongo Junior to enhance his males’s working and dwelling situations by upgrading their amenities, funding faculties for troopers’ youngsters and refurbishing some lodging.
The measures earned him respect and sympathy from his colleagues, in line with the PDG supply. “He isn’t very talkative however very appreciated by his males.
He’s a Julius Caesar, and Julius Caesar cares for the consolation of his legionaries,” the supply mentioned, referring to the Roman basic who went on to take energy.
Gabon’s military was included
The previous colleague praised him as “a person of consensus, who by no means raises his voice, who listens to everybody and systematically seeks compromise”.
An instance of his unifying strategy was together with officers from all military branches within the new ruling Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Establishments, serving to to stage the coup with none reported bloodshed.
Nguema mentioned Bongo has now “been positioned in retirement” however has not set a timetable for a transition again to civilian rule, shrouding his intentions doubtful.
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© Agence France-Presse
