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The West African nation of Gabon is experiencing a popular revolt against the rule of President Ali Bongo Ondimba, son of long-time strongman Omar Bongo who died only months before his son was elected in October 2009. Citing allegations of election fraud, opposition leaders formed a breakaway government on January 26, 2011, with former presidential candidate André Mba Obame as the self-declared president.

Thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets in the nation’s capital, Libreville, on January 29, and were faced with violent suppression from the army. Protests have spread to other cities, and crackdowns have become increasingly fierce as the current wave of popular protests demanding free elections sweeping the African continent (Tunisia, Egypt and Côte d'Ivoire) has made the Gabonese government especially wary. The “unofficial” government went into hiding in the offices of the UNDP.

Gabon is a former French colony, and an oil-rich nation with a population of only 1.4 million people. Adding to the political turmoil are allegations of corruption and a transfer of funds from Omar Bongo to the political parties of the current French government. There are less than 100,000 internet users in the country, and roughly only 25,000 Gabonese on Facebook.

Please contact Global Voices Sub-Saharan African Editor Ndesanjo Macha if you have links or story ideas, or want to add to this page's resource list.

What we do: Global Voices bloggers report on how citizens use the Internet and social media to make their voices heard, often translating from other languages. Check back for further developments to this page.

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Featured Global Voices Posts – Gabon Unrest 2011

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2012

02 Jan – From Sidi Bouzid to Kinshasa: Francophone Africa in 2011

2011

11 Nov – Gabon: Bongo Indulges With Football Match Against Brazil

10 May – Gabon: Parliamentary Immunity Removal Could Spark Protests

11 Mar – Gabon: Two Rival Presidents, One Accused of Embezzlement

28 Feb - France: Demonstration in Paris Against Gabon Dictatorship

22 Feb – Gabon: Mourning Unrest's First Casualty, as Bongo Meets Sarkozy

15 Feb – Gabon: Leaderless Opposition?

11 Feb – Gabon: Students Protest, Army Deployed

09 Feb – Gabon: Protests Stifled as Official and ‘Unofficial’ Governments Face Off

04 Feb – Gabon: The Invisible Revolt

26 Jan – Gabon: Opposition Leader Takes Oath as New President (Interview with Ben Moubamba)

From the Global Voices Archives

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09 Oct 2009 – Gabon’s bloggers struggle to take hold

22 Sep 2009 – Gabon: Opposition Continues to Fight Election Result

31 Jul 2009 – Gabon: Presidential Candidate Uses Social Media in Historic Election

08 Jun 2009 – Gabon: On President Omar Bongo's death

11 May 2009 – Paris court investigates three African leaders

Resources

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Twitter

For the latest updates follow the Global Voices Twitter List: Gabon Unrest 2011.

Key Tweeters: Julie Owono, Global Voices Gabon Author

Hashtags: #Gabon | #revogab | #Alidegage





Facebook

Websites

Videos

Opposition government's Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Ben Moubamba has Youtube video archives since 2009.

YouTube channel AfricaWeWish has two recent videos from Gabon, including one of unrest at the university, and this one from February 10, showing military deployments in different parts of Libreville:

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