United States has cut all its aid to Gabon in response to the coup d’état in August which ousted the president whose family had ruled the nation for more than five decades, the State Department said.
“We underscore that our humanitarian, health, and education assistance will continue to benefit the people of Gabon,” spokesperson Matthew Milller said in a statement Monday October 23.
Foreign aid already had been put on temporary hold to Gabon as of Sept. 26, the statement said.
“We will resume our assistance alongside concrete actions by the transitional government toward establishing democratic rule,” Miller added.
Ondimba had served two terms since coming to power in 2009 after the death of his father, who ruled the country for 41 years. Another group of mutinous soldiers attempted a coup in 2019 but was quickly overpowered.
On 30 August, the Gabonese army overthrew President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who had been in power for 14 years, in a coup d’état denounced by the international community.
He had been declared the winner of a presidential election widely criticised for irregularities.
Gabon’s new military-appointed prime minister, Raymond Ndong Sima, has called for a distinction to be drawn between coups d’état and coups d’état.
Earlier this month, the U.S. took similar steps in Niger, suspending counterterrorism assistance and military training more than two months after mutinous soldiers seized power
