Gabon, 2019 — military coup attempt

Event Summary

On 7 January 2019 a small group of soldiers in Gabon seized the national radio station in the capital Libreville and announced a coup against President Ali Bongo Ondimba, only to be swiftly crushed within hours. Bongo, whose family had ruled the oil rich Central African state since 1967, when his father Omar Bongo took power, had been out of the country for months receiving medical treatment in Morocco after suffering a stroke in Riyadh in October 2018; his prolonged absence and a stilted New Year's address that failed to dispel doubts about his fitness had fueled speculation and discontent. In the pre dawn hours, Lieutenant Kelly Ondo Obiang and a handful of soldiers of a self proclaimed Patriotic Movement of the Defence and Security Forces took over the state broadcaster, denounced Bongo's clinging to power, and declared a National Restoration Council to restore democracy, taking hostages.

But the coup won no broader support; the Republican Guard and loyal forces moved quickly, stormed the radio station by mid morning, and overpowered the plotters, killing two and arresting the rest. Bongo remained president, though weakened; he clung to power until he was finally overthrown in a successful military coupi in August 2023.