LIBREVILLE, Gabon –
Gabon is holding a referendum on Saturday on whether to adopt a new constitution, more than one year after mutinous soldiers overthrew the country’s longtime president and seized power in the oil-rich Central African nation.
Nearly one million people are expected to vote. The draft constitution, which proposes sweeping changes that could prevent dynastic rule and transfer of power, needs more than 50 per cent of the votes cast to be adopted.
In 2023, soldiers toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba and put him under house arrest, accusing him of irresponsible governance and massive embezzlement that risked leading the country into chaos. The junta released Ondimba a week later on humanitarian grounds, allowing him to travel abroad for medical treatment.
The soldiers proclaimed their republican guard chief, Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, as president of a transitional committee to lead the country. Oligui is a cousin of Bongo.
Bongo, had served two terms since coming to power in 2009 …