Gabon’s 'transitional president' to be sworn in on September 4

General Brice Oligui Nguema will be sworn in as Gabon’s transitional president on September 4, the country’s military has announced.

This comes after an influential unit of the army staged a coup against President Ali Bongo Ondimba on Wednesday.

Bongo had won re-election on August 26, but the military said that the polls were marred by irregularities.

Bongo had been declared the winner of the presidential election with slightly over 64% of the votes cast.

Bongo had been in power for 14 years – since 2009, when he took over from his father Omar Bongo, who had ruled the country for 42 years.

Nguema, the would-be transitional leader, was the head of the Republican Guard, the most powerful unit of Gabonese army.