Gabon’s opposition candidate alleges the ousted president’s family is behind a plot to retain power

By SAM MEDNICK
Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Gabon’s opposition candidate alleges that the family of the recently ousted president was behind a plot to keep them in power after more than five decades of rule over the oil-rich Central African nation. Speaking to French media outlet TV5 Monde Thursday, Albert Ondo Ossa said the mutinous soldiers who ousted Gabon’s president this week did not engage in a coup but rather a “palace revolution” in order to continue their family’s reign. The comments come days after soldiers toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba and put him under house arrest, accusing him of irresponsible governance that risked leading the country into chaos. The soldiers then named Bongo’s cousin, head of the elite republican guard as the one in charge.