00:00 Let's bring in Indira Ayyuk, who is our regional correspondent in neighboring Cameroon.
00:04 Indira, what more are you hearing about the situation in Gabon at the moment?
00:09 Well, the situation for now, what we have as latest information is that some Gabonese
00:15 nationals are down on the streets of Libreville, that's the capital of Gabon, celebrating or
00:20 jubilating the military takeover in the country.
00:23 Clearly, most of them did not want the outgoing president, Ali Bongo Ndimba, to continue for
00:28 a third term in office.
00:30 Meantime, it is believed that Ali Bongo is under house arrest in a location believed
00:33 to be the presidential palace.
00:35 That is information that was given by the 12 military people who spoke on national television.
00:41 For now, every other thing is still unknown.
00:44 We do not know the direction the coup in Gabon is taking.
00:48 However, we know that outgoing president Ali Bongo Ndimba is under house arrest.
00:53 Meanwhile, Gabonese in the capital, Libreville, are on the streets jubilating the recent turn
00:57 of events.
00:58 Right.
00:59 And, Dira, as you're speaking, we can see some of those pictures behind us.
01:03 Do we know more about who is behind this coup?
01:06 Who is going to be the new PUT leader?
01:10 Well, there is no information about that for now.
01:16 All we know is that the military people who have been loyal to the current regime, which
01:21 has been in place for over 50 years, there's no particular name that has triggered out
01:26 Assad now about who is maybe the interim president or while looking to stabilize things in Gabon,
01:33 there's no particular name that has been put forward at the moment.
01:36 So just tell us a bit more about the Bongo family that has ruled the country now for
01:41 over 50 years.
01:43 Give us some context on what kind of country they have led and if this could now mean the
01:47 end of their reign.
01:51 Well, as most people know, Ali Bongo's father, his late father, Omar Bongo Ndimba, became
01:59 president of Gabon.
02:00 That is the second president of the country in 1967.
02:03 He ruled for close to 42 years until his death in 2009 when his son took over in elections
02:10 which were organized in August of 2009.
02:13 And since then, Omar Bongo has been the president.
02:16 He fell sick sometime in 2018 and people were hoping that that could be the end of the Bongo
02:22 dynasty or what they now call the Bongo dynasty.
02:25 Unfortunately, he has held on to power and was even hoping for a third term in office.
02:29 There were also speculations that Omar Bongo was just, or Ali Bongo, was waiting to hand
02:35 over to his son who may be next in line in the Omar or in the Bongo dynasty.
02:40 Unfortunately, that has come to an end with the military or the imminent or the attempted
02:46 which is ongoing in the country right now.
