Gabon: Military officers say ousted president under house arrest
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Transcript
00:00 Senior reporter Cyril Payen joins me on set for the latest on the situation in Gabon.
00:05 And you've got some new information, Cyril.
00:06 Yeah, the news are developing very fast in Libreville.
00:10 We now know that the president Ali Mungo was rumored to have fled in Morocco.
00:16 This is totally unconfirmed because he's under house arrest.
00:20 It's been confirmed on national TV this morning.
00:22 One of his sons has been arrested too.
00:24 The national election commission president, the very one who announced the victory of
00:30 Ali Mungo later at dawn, is arrested too.
00:33 And we should have a face and a name for the new strongman of Gabon.
00:38 This is General Oligien Gema, which is a very powerful and well-known general among the
00:42 army.
00:43 He's the chief of the Replugan Guard.
00:46 He was a spy, very involved in the spying circles in Gabon.
00:51 So it's not a surprise, but it looks like it's confirmation of the coup.
00:55 And there is a new face as the head of state of Gabon, as we speak.
00:59 So, Cyril, you know Gabon very well.
01:01 You were just there five months ago with the French president Emmanuel Macron, where he
01:04 was very supportive of President Mungo.
01:07 This is turning a bit into a diplomatic nightmare for him now.
01:09 Very, very much indeed.
01:10 It was a lot of the French president really did capitalize on the president Mungo.
01:17 He spent four days in Libreville organizing a summit.
01:21 So it looks like at this time it also, it was starting, we were talking about the elections.
01:25 There were some people contesting, saying that the French are too involved and this
01:30 is the old tradition to be involved in these ultra-rich countries.
01:35 And President Macron was trying to stop this kind of image, but it went very bad.
01:41 And again, this is like a domino effect in this region.
01:45 It's going very fast and brutally.
01:47 And to the dismays of the French, of course.
01:50 So everybody has in mind this trip.
01:52 And many people think he should have thought twice, maybe.
01:55 So it's a very much a very political and diplomatic nightmare, as you said.
02:02 And not just in Gabon, because if this coup is indeed confirmed as a coup, it would be
02:05 the eighth one in Africa in just three years.
02:08 Of course, of course.
02:09 So everybody, all the diplomatic circles are pointing the fingers on this West African
02:13 countries, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Niger one month ago and still going on.
02:19 And again, this domino effect, which is very, very bad.
02:23 President Macron just yesterday was quoted as saying this is an epidemic of putsch.
02:27 The thing is, these putsch are not the same, not the same perpetrators.
02:31 But the French is always used as a scapegoat in this matter because it's the old military
02:38 lies, the traditional colony also.
02:41 But again, it's a very, very strong turn in the events and the diplomatic terrible
02:47 face for France, indeed.
02:49 Cyril, thank you for sharing your expertise with us.
02:51 That's France 24's Cyril Payen.