Web outages proceed in Gabon amid delays within the announcement of election outcomes

An web shutdown within the African nation of Gabon remained in place on Monday, in keeping with an web censorship monitor, amid issues about delays in publishing outcomes from nationwide elections held over the weekend.

The federal government introduced an indefinite restriction of web entry and a nightly curfew on Saturday night as voting ended within the presidential, parliamentary and native elections.

Rodrigue Mbomba-Bissau, the nation’s communications minister, mentioned the transfer was geared toward avoiding “the danger of violence and dissemination of disinformation”.

On the identical day, the authorities introduced the suspension of French media channels France 24, RFI and TV5 Monde in Gabon, accusing them of “lack of objectivity and steadiness” of their protection of the elections, a call that France Médias Monde described as regrettable. Media’s mum or dad firm.

Incumbent President Ali Bongo Ondimba sought re-election for a 3rd time period in opposition to his important rival Albert Ondo Ossa, a consensus candidate put ahead by six main opposition events beneath the Different Coalition 2023 motion.

NetBlocks, a non-profit group that displays web censorship, mentioned on X, previously generally known as Twitter: “Metrics present Gabon’s web shutdown is in impact for a 3rd day.”

NetBlocks mentioned the web outage “is prone to restrict the free movement of data on-line, difficult election transparency” whereas votes are being counted.

Maximilian Ngo Mbe, govt director of the Community of Human Rights Defenders in Central Africa, expressed concern on Monday about web blackouts, curfews and restrictions on the media, saying they solid doubt on the transparency of the elections.

“The blackout on the Web and restrictions on the media point out that there are not any truthful and clear elections,” she informed Anadolu Company.

She appealed to the African Union to return out and “demand the restoration of entry to the Web” earlier than issues get uncontrolled.

It was not clear on Monday when Gabon’s electoral authority would announce the outcomes of Saturday’s common election, prompting allegations of vote rigging by the opposition camp led by Ossa, who introduced on Saturday that he had received the presidential election.

However Jessie Ella-Ekoga, an advisor to President Bongo, informed Anadolu Company that “the counting of the outcomes remains to be ongoing” and rejected allegations of fraud.

Ossa, who additionally ran within the 2009 presidential election, mentioned after casting his vote within the capital, Libreville, on Saturday that “60 years in energy is an excessive amount of” for Bongo.

Bongo, 64, took energy from his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba, in 2009, after the latter dominated the small, oil-rich nation for greater than 41 years.

He was re-elected in 2016 for a second seven-year time period, in opinion polls that observers mentioned was marred by violence.

In April, the Gabonese parliament amended the nation’s structure to scale back the president’s time period of workplace from seven to 5 years.
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