African Union suspends Gabon

The African Union’s Peace and Security Council yesterday said it had suspended Gabon from all AU activities following the recent coup.

In a communique sighted by newsmen, the AU said it decided to “immediately suspend the participation of the Republic of Gabon in all activities of the AU, its Organs and institutions until the restoration of constitutional order in the country.”

Senior military officers in Gabon on Wednesday announced  that they had taken over the government because elections held in the Central African country on Saturday were not credible.

Few hours later, General Brice Nguema, leader of Gabon’s elite Republican Guard, who was in charge of the president’s security, was named transition leader.

The African Union condemned the coup and ordered the military to immediately return to the barracks and to “unconditionally return power to the civilian authority, uphold their constitutional mandate, and the principle of constitutionalism, and refrain from any interference in the political processes in Gabon.”