The Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) Commission has condemned the military coup that took place in Gabon on Wednesday.
PulseNets reports that the commission, in a statement said that it strongly condemns the use of force as a way of resolving political conflicts and gaining access to power.
The coup was announced by a group of Gabonese soldiers who appeared on television and said that they were “putting an end to the current regime” and canceling the results of an election that President Ali Bongo Ondimba won. The soldiers also said that they had dissolved “all the institutions of the republic.”
The CEEAC Commission called on the Gabonese people to work together to restore constitutional order. The commission said that it would continue to monitor the situation in Gabon and would convene an extraordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government to discuss the way forward.
The statement read, “The Commission of the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) is following with deep concern the announcement made by the Defence and security forces on August 30, 2023, regarding their seizure of power.
“By complying with the fundamental principles underlying the EAEC Treaty, the ECCAS Commission strongly condemns the use of force as a way of resolving political conflicts and gaining access to power and calls on the political genius of the Gabonese People so that they can, in a republican dialogue, take all the arrangements for a rapid return to constitutional order.
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“The CEEAC Commission continues to closely monitor the situation in the country pending the imminent convening of an extraordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government, in Central African Peace and Security Council (COPAX) format, with a view to an appropriate review of the political and security situation in the Gabonese Republic and the determination of the way forward.”
The coup in Gabon is the latest in a series of military takeovers in Africa. In recent years, there have been coups in Mali, Guinea, and Sudan.
