AFRICA
2 MIN READ
US holds back aid to Gabon after military takeover
US State Secretary Antony Blinken says the US will continue maintaining diplomatic and consular operations in Gabon.
US holds back aid to Gabon after military takeover
General Brice Oligui Nguema was sworn in as Gabon's new president earlier this month. / Photo: AFP
September 27, 2023

The United States has said it would halt assistance to Gabon after the military took charge last month.

"The US government is pausing certain foreign assistance programs benefiting the government of Gabon while we evaluate the unconstitutional intervention by members of the country’s military," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said that the United States was maintaining diplomatic and consular operations in the oil-rich Central African country.

The move is temporary as the State Department considers a formal determination that Gabon experienced a military coup, which under US law would snap off assistance.

Aid minimal

US officials have previously said that US assistance was minimal to Gabon, run by the Bongo family for more than half a century.

Washington has a larger presence in both security and economic assistance in Niger, another African nation where the military recently took power.

Gabonese military leaders on August 30 overthrew Ali Bongo Ondimba just as he was proclaimed the winner of an election widely criticized for irregularities.

The military installed as prime minister the opposition leader, Raymond Ndong Sima, who in an address to the United Nations last week promised to take steps to hold new elections and called on the West not to condemn the coup "without nuance."

Read more: Coups: Why African leaders must re-examine their approach to governance

SOURCE:AFP
Sneak a peek at TRT Global. Share your feedback!
Contact us