Don’t create a situation that could to a lead coup – Fiifi Kwetey tasks govt

He said military takeovers in countries are not the right way to go, however, governments should be wary of situations that could lead to coups in their countries.

Speaking to journalists in Accra, he said, “Let the people decide who should be in charge. As opposed to this primitive obsession we have, that as soon as you have access to power, you must corrupt institutions, you must turn them into appendages.”

“You must destroy the businesses that support your opponents, you must create conditions that make it impossible for any other person to have a possibility of power. Yet at the same time, when you hear about a coup in another country, you jump into sending the military. Meanwhile, you are creating a situation that could lead to the same situation in your country.”

The takeover in Gabon is the latest in a string of coups that have taken place in recent years and comes just a month after soldiers took control in Niger.

President Ali Bongo was removed from power in the early hours of Wednesday, August 30, 2023, and has been placed under house arrest alongside some of his family members.

Fiifi Kwetey Pulse Ghana

“President Ali Bongo is under house arrest, surrounded by his family and doctors,” the coupists said in a statement.

The coupists said Bongo’s son and close adviser Noureddin Bongo Valentin, his Chief of Staff, Ian Ghislain Ngoulou as well as his deputy, two other presidential advisers "have all been arrested."

In the statement released after seizing power, the military officers listed irregularities in the last presidential election, irresponsible governance and deterioration in social cohesion as some of the reasons they struck.