President Denis Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville, who has served in that position for 39 years without interruption, has been the target of recent allegations of a coup attempt.
These allegations, which first appeared on social media, seem to point to a planned military coup against the 79-year-old king. At the time of these rumours, President Nguesso was attending the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In response to these allegations, Information Minister Thierry Moungalla took to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday to unequivocally dismiss them, stating, “The government categorically denies the spread of false information. We wish to reassure the public of the prevailing tranquility and encourage everyone to carry on with their daily activities calmly.”
A statement on the government’s official website that reiterated its denial of any rumours of a coup attempt was also posted.
The number of coup d’états has increased recently across the African continent, with the most recent one being in the nearby country of Gabon, when armed forces took over in August.
Through a military revolution in 1979, Denis Nguesso became the country’s president of this oil-rich Central African country. Although he suffered a brief setback in 1992 when he lost the first round of Congo’s multi-party elections, he later regained control in 1997 after a period of civil war.
