GABON'S COUP LEADER WINS THE PRESIDENCY BY A LANDSLIDE

General Brice Oligui Nguema, leader of the 2023 coup in Gabon won the country’s top seat on Saturday having more than 90 percent of the vote, as per the preliminary results.

About two years back in August 2023,Nguema ousted the incumbent President , Ali Bongo, marking an end of more than 50 years of the Bongo dynasty.

Nguema has tried to distance himself from the notion that he shares Bongo's blood and his incumbency means an extended familial domination.
However , Nguema, was formerly a military aide to Bongo’s father, he is Bongo’s cousin, and was also endorsed by the family's Gabonese Democratic Party ( GDP).

The voter turnout was 70.4 percent, and also, this was the first time to allow foreign media and international observers get involved in the process.

Nguema’s landslide victory elicited reactions from the citizens, some saying that he announced an impromptu election giving his rivals less time so prepare while others argued that he was contesting against weaker rivals.
Rallying just behind him was, Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze—the country’s last prime minister under Bongo—won just over 3 percent of the vote.

Another popular figure, trade unionist Jean-Rémy Yama, was seemingly, deliberately impeded from contesting because he could not produce his father’s birth certificate, a requirement for presidential candidates.

Critics also say that Nguema deliberately revised Gabon’s electoral code, introducing an upper age limit of 70 that barred his most popular rival, Albert Ondo Ossa, from running.

According to Ossa ,he won the country’s last election in 2023, however, Bongo claimed the victory causing for mass action, from there, Nguema got an opportunity to overturn Bongo's reign.

In his campaigns,Nguema pledged to curb graft , address youth unemployment, poor infrastructure, and the high cost of living.

Gabon boasts as Africa’s third-highest GDP per capita from oil , but inequality is persists and more than one-third of the citizens are impoverished. According to The International Monetary Fund , nearly 40 percent of young Gabonese are unemployed.

Since the coup, Nguema has tried to liaise with other nations including, China, France, Russia and the United Arab Emirates to strengthen trade ties .
Over the weekend, he told Al Jazeera that the UAE is expected to open an embassy in Gabon soon.

Despite Nguema’s many promises, some remain skeptical if any significant change will happen under the same Bongo's familial clique.