Seasoned Ghanaian Journalist, Kwesi Pratt Jr., says it is likely coup d’états will happen in four more African countries before the end of the year.
His comments come after the senior military rank in Gabon ousted President Ali Bongo and put him under house arrest on Wednesday.
The military takeover in the central African country comes weeks after the Niger president was also toppled by the country’s military.
Speaking on Good Morning Ghana on Metro TV on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, the managing editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt said he expected a seizure of the Gabon government long before it happened.
“As for Gabon, who was not expecting a coup d’état in Gabon?” he quizzed
“I don’t know a single person who was not expecting a coup d’état in Gabon. As a matter of fact, if you look at the measures that were instituted by the government of Ali Bongo in the run-up to the elections and after the elections, they all pointed to a severe panic and of course, I was expecting a coup in Gabon, I am still expecting coup d’état in four more countries. I think the four more countries are going to fall very soon, possibly before the end of the year we should expect two or three more countries to fall,” Mr. Pratt said.
Kwesi Pratt believes the will of the people will always triumph over leaders who attempt to devastate countries and impose great hardship on their citizens.
“It is about the systems we build and how the systems respond to genuine needs and aspirations of our people, beyond these parameters we cannot in any way, ever prevent such happenings,” he said on Metro TV.
The military in Gabon has seized power and placed President Ali Bongo, 64, under house arrest.
The takeover came shortly after election results were announced saying Mr Bongo had been re-elected despite opposition complaints of fraud.
President Bongo was first elected in 2009 following the death of his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, who had ruled the country for 41 years.
Gabon is the latest former French colony in Africa to experience a coup in recent years – following Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and most recently Niger.
