Washington is following events in Libreville “very, very closely,” the White House said Wednesday, hours after military officers in the West African nation of Gabon seized power from the family that has ruled the nation for more than half a century.
The White House also defended U.S. commitments to Africa after being asked whether a wave of coups in the region was a sign that Washington has taken its eye off the resource-rich, volatile continent.
“It all kind of unfolded overnight,” said John Kirby, director of strategic communications for the National Security Council, during a virtual briefing with reporters.
Gabon’s longtime President Ali Bongo Ondimba released a video confirming his house arrest, just hours after he was confirmed the winner of a recent election that observers said was marred by irregularities.
He took office after the death of his father in 2009 and weathered a coup attempt in 2019. The Bongo family has led the former French colony continuously since 1967 and has been accused by rights groups of becoming fabulously wealthy in a nation that is rich in resources, but where average citizens struggle to survive amid high unemployment.
“It's deeply concerning to us,” Kirby said of the events. “We will remain a supporter of the people in the region, supporting the people of Gabon and their demand for democratic governance, of course. But we're going to also stay focused on continuing to work with our African partners and ... all the people on the continent to address challenges and to support democracy. So, again, we're watching this closely.”
Since 2020, military officers have toppled regimes in Sudan, Mali, Chad, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Niger.
'Contagion effect'
Analyst Vanda Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institution said Wednesday that the events illustrated “the contagion effect in full swing,” and she described the power seizure as “another big blow” to the United States, France and the Economic Community of West African States.
She added: “Each additional one, any single one is harder to reverse as focus & resources of [international] democracy supporters [are] divided.”
Kirby said the White House was not ready to reach the same conclusions.
“I think it’s just too soon to do a table slap here and say, ‘Yep, we got a trend here going,’ or, ‘Yep, there's going to be a domino effect,’” he said.
On the Africa in Transition blog maintained by the Council on Foreign Relations, analyst Ebenezer Obadare pointed to a worrying trend in the region.
“The gangsta militariat (more gangsta than militariat) is the logical outcome of the African military’s involvement in politics, insofar as the latter has resulted in the militarization of politics, the politicization of the military, and subsequently the de-professionalization of the armed forces,” he wrote.
Kirby also batted away claims that Washington is not invested in the continent.
“I don't think any measured consideration of the president's foreign policy goals over the last two and a half years would lead anybody to conclude that we're walking away from Africa or that we haven't been paying attention to it,” he said.
“We are very focused on the continent on many different levels, including investment in infrastructure and economic development, again announcing millions and millions of dollars to help bolster African infrastructure and investment, and that's on top of all the security cooperation that we have with African partners.”
At the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the world body was trying to gather facts before acting. Gabon currently holds a seat on the U.N. Security Council.
“Until we know what exactly is happening on the ground, we won’t take any actions,” she said. “But let me just say clearly: We condemn any efforts by militaries to take power by force.”
VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
