Why Gabon’s coup plotters can count on popular support

A strong desire for change - even if it comes wearing combat fatigues - is feeding Africa's series of putsches

• Gabon military officers declare coup

The routine is now very familiar: the sudden putsch, the president confined, the nocturnal statement by new, camouflaged rulers. Today it is the turn of Gabon to wake up to find a military coup has brought sudden and unexpected political upheaval in a country that had been considered relatively stable.

On this occasion, the men in uniform introduced themselves as members of the Committee of Transition and the Restoration of Institutions. If successful, the coup will be the eighth in west and central Africa since 2020 to lead to a violent - or at least coerced - change in regime. The most recent was last month in Niger.