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On the back of the recent coup in Gabon, Shatta Wale has in a tweet described as “scary” the growing level of political upheavals in Africa using the term “Francophone Spring” to describe the unfolding events.
Gabon soldiers in the wee hours of Wednesday, August 30, 2023; announced that they had seized power in the Central African country. The announcement was made via national television. According to the soldiers, they were setting aside the results of the August 26 presidential election.
Incumbent Ali Bongo, now ousted, had barely hours prior been declared winner of the poll which the opposition claimed was fraudulent. Gabon’s Electoral Commission declared that Mr Bongo had won a little under two-thirds of the votes.
Bongo confirmed that a coup had taken place in the country in an unofficial address to international friends. In a 51-second video shared on social media, Bongo was seen in a room at the presidential palace appealing to his friends across the world to ‘make noise’ against his arrest which took place after the military announced his ouster.
He also confirmed that he was isolated at the presidency because his son had been taken away and his wife was being held at another place.
“My name is Ali Bongo Ondimba, president of Gabon. I am sending a message to all the friends of all the friends that we have all over the world, to tell them to make noise, to make noise.
“The people here have arrested me and my family, my son is somewhere, my wife is in another place and I am at the residence. Nothing is happening. I don’t know what is going on.
“So I am telling you to make noise, to make noise, to make noise really. Thank you,” his address read.
Many have reacted to the situation. In a tweet sighted by GhanaWeb, Ghanaian musician Shatta Wale commented on the potential implications of the unrest.
“The francophone spring is getting scary!!! A strong wind is blowing oooo. Ayooo!!!!! Don’t say I didn’t tell you!!” he stated in the social media post asking his followers to “save this tweet”.
The notion of the “Francophone Spring” draws similarities to the “Arab Spring,” which took place in the Middle East and North Africa in the previous decade. This phrase describes a string of anti-government demonstrations, revolutions, and political developments that took place in numerous Arab nations.
In the last couple of years, some Francophone countries in Africa have witnessed coup d’états.
On May 24, 2021, Mali’s President, Bah N’daw, Prime Minister, Moctar Ouane and Minister of Defence, Souleymane Doucoure were captured by the Malian Army led by Vice President, Assimi Goita as the head of the junta. They subsequently announced that N’daw and OUane were stripped of their powers pending new general elections to be held in 2022.
In September 2022, a coup d’etat took place in Burkina Faso, barely 10 months after the last one that removed democratically elected Christian Roch Marc Kabore from power. Reports of heavy artillery gunfire in the wee hours of September 30 and heavy military presence in parts of the capital Ouagadougou raised fears of a takeover.
On July 26, 2023, soldiers appeared on national TV in Niger to announce the ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum. The officials numbering 10 belonged to different institutions of security architecture reading by their uniforms.
