Following the military coup orchestrated by a group of high-ranking officials in Gabon, who appointed General “Bris Olé Ngwam” as the head of the transitional phase, amid international condemnations, activists have begun sharing videos that have no relevance to the ongoing events in Gabon. Among these videos is a clip falsely claimed to capture a protest against Ali Bongo, the deposed Gabonese president, and King Mohammed VI of Morocco, concurrently with the coup.
In this context, various pages and social media accounts have circulated a video clip alleging that it shows Gabonese protesters raising slogans like “Mohammed VI and Bongo Partners in Killing” and “Polisario and Gabonese Resistance, Same Battle, Same Enemy, Morocco.” However, “Myspar,” a site specialized in combating rumors and fake news, investigated the claim and found it to be misleading. The video clip is old and not related to any protest against Mohammed VI and Ali Bongo during the recent military coup in Gabon.
The video actually pertains to demonstrations protesting Morocco’s involvement in Gabon’s affairs in 2018. The original video was shared on social media on December 30, 2018. It was initially posted by a Facebook group named “Jean Ping, Writer of Resistance,” led by Jean Ping, a politician, writer, and leader of the Gabonese opposition who lost the elections to Ali Bongo in 2016.
The video was accompanied by a comment that read, “The Gabonese Diaspora in Eurasia, Friends of Gabon: Mohammed VI and Ali Bongo Partners in Killing.” The publisher of the video wrote, “A video tour of the December 29, 2018 demonstration from Trocadéro Square to the Gabonese Embassy in Paris.”
Furthermore, the “Myspar” team discovered photos from the same demonstration, posted on December 29, 2018. The demonstration, according to its organizers, was a protest against Moroccan-French intervention in Gabon and the recognition of the 2016 electoral dispute, demanding the redoing of the August 27, 2016 elections that were “seized.”
Protest against Moroccan-French Intervention in Gabon Protesters also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of political prisoners, affirming their recognition of only one president, Jean Ping.
The demonstrators displayed slogans opposing Morocco’s position on Western Sahara, with one banner reading, “Polisario and Gabonese: Same Battle, Same Enemy, Morocco.”
Ali Bongo Under House Arrest The authority behind the coup in Gabon announced the cancellation of elections and placed President Ali Bongo under house arrest with his family and doctors. One of his sons was arrested on charges of “high treason.”
In contrast, the deposed President Ali Bongo appeared in a video posted on social media, addressing his supporters as “friends” and urging them to “raise their voices.” He affirmed his presence at his residence and professed ignorance about his son and wife.
It’s worth noting that the isolated Gabonese president has been suffering from the effects of a stroke he experienced in 2018. He vanished from the public eye at that time, with his health condition being kept secret.
Recent media reports suggest that Bongo is experiencing difficulty in moving his right arm and leg.
Ali Bongo (64 years old) assumed power following the passing of his father, Omar Bongo, who died of a heart attack while undergoing treatment for colon cancer in 2009, after nearly 42 years in office. Omar Bongo (the father) ascended to power in 1967, seven years after Gabon gained independence from France. He ruled the small nation with an iron fist, imposing a one-party system for years and only allowing multi-party rule in 1991, while his party maintained control over the government.