Congo Govt denies reports of coup attempt
The Congolese government has debunked rumours of a coup attempt against President Denis Nguesso.
Thierry Moungalla, the country’s minister of information, spoke via a message posted on X, on Sunday.
This follows reports of a coup unfolding in the Central African country, with the hashtag #Congo a top trend on X.
Denis Sassou Nguesso, the 79-year-old President, is said to have departed for New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
Nguesso has served as president of Congo since 1997. He had previously served a previous term as president from 1979 to 1992. This means that he has stayed a cumulative 39 years in power.
Military coups were a regular occurrence in some parts of Africa in the decades after independence. Now, after a period of relative democratic stability, there are indications they are on the rise again.
The takeover in Gabon is just the latest in a string of coups that have taken place in recent years, and comes just a month after soldiers took control in Niger.
There were two in Burkina Faso in 2022 as well as failed coup attempts in Guinea Bissau, The Gambia and the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe.
In 2021, there were six coup attempts in Africa, four of them successful.
Last year, a senior African Union official, Moussa Faki Mahamat, expressed concern about “the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government”.
