LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) — Gabon ‘s new army chief was sworn in as the pinnacle of state Monday lower than per week after ousting the president whose household had dominated the Central African nation for greater than 5 a long time.

Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, took the oath within the presidential palace in entrance of a packed, boisterous room of presidency officers, army and native leaders in Gabon’s capital, Libreville. Oligui is a cousin of the ousted President Ali Bongo Ondimba, served as a bodyguard to his late father and is head of the republican guard, an elite army unit.

Speaking to applause and standing ovations Monday, Oligui stated the army had seized energy with out bloodshed and promised to return energy to the folks by organizing free, clear and credible elections.

“With the new government, made up of experienced people, we’re going to give everyone a chance to hope,” he stated.

The mutinous troopers who toppled Bongo final week stated he risked main the nation into chaos and so they then “unanimously” designated Oligui president of the transitional committee. Bongo, who had been president for 14 years, was ousted hours after being declared the winner of a vote that was broadly seen as rife with irregularities and missing transparency.

The speedy swearing-in of Oligui will create perceptions of legitimacy and consolidate his energy to discourage potential opponents from difficult his rule, stated Maja Bovcon, senior analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a danger evaluation agency.

“It is also likely intended as a means to restore investor confidence by conveying the message that he will not waste time in returning to business-as-usual and democratic rules,” she stated. However, the truth that he plans to rewrite the structure and electoral code signifies that the transition interval will probably take months, if not years.

Bongo had served two phrases since coming to energy in 2009 after the dying of his father, who dominated the nation for 41 years, and there was widespread discontent together with his household’s reign. Another group of mutinous troopers tried a coup in 2019 however was shortly overpowered.

Nine members of the Bongo household, in the meantime, are underneath investigation in France, and a few face preliminary fees of embezzlement, cash laundering and different types of corruption, in accordance with Sherpa, a French NGO devoted to accountability. Investigators have linked the household to greater than $92 million in properties in France, together with two villas in Nice, the group says.

The thought of a protracted transition isn’t one thing that appeared to hassle Gabonese who attended the inauguration Thursday.

“We are turning the page of 55 years of an oligarchy. For Gabon it is a new start, the end of a one political party governance without real benefits for the Gabonese people,” stated Desire Ename writer for a neighborhood media outlet. It can be acceptable for the junta to transition inside three years, he stated.

Gabon’s opposition candidate, Albert Ondo Ossa, wouldn’t touch upon the inauguration however advised The Associated Press final week that the federal government wanted to return to constitutional rule and he didn’t take into account the president’s ousting to be a coup however moderately a “palace revolution” with a purpose to proceed the Bongo’s household’s reign.

The former French colony is a member of OPEC, however its oil wealth is concentrated within the arms of some - and practically 40% of Gabonese aged 15 to 24 have been out of labor in 2020, in accordance with the World Bank. Its oil export income was $6 billion in 2022, in accordance with the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

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Mednick reported from Dakar, Senegal.

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