TEHRAN - In another blow to France this week, Gabon's military overthrew the very wealthy President Ali Bongo soon after he was declared the winner in elections that had been roundly condemned as fraudulent.

Over the past three years, military officers have thrown the presidents of Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Chad, more recently Niger, and now Gabon.

All six African states have one thing in common.

They are all former colonies of France and have seen a sharp rise in anti-French sentiment, with the former colonial power standing accused of using its military presence in the region, in particular the Sahel, to increase instability.

France is clearly seeing how its military presence in Africa is slowly diminishing.

This is while the local population in these countries that had or continue to have French military presence on their territory have been living in poverty, seeing no financial benefits of the natural resources on their land.

France's strong ties with the former West African presidents also saw close economic ties to those natural resources. 

In Mali, two coups took place, the first in August 2020 and the second nine months later; President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was overthrown by the military who accused the president of the worsening security situation. Similar accusations were directed at France.

In September 2021, Guinea’s Special Forces overthrew President Alpha Conde.

In April 2021, Chad’s military took power after President Idriss Deby was killed on the battlefield while visiting troops fighting militants.

In January 2022, the military in Burkina Faso overthrew President Roch Kabore, accusing him and France of doing little to tackle the militancy. 

In late July, the military in Niger overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, accusing him of forging closer ties close with France as the security situation in the country deteriorated.

This week military officers in Gabon led by General Brice Nguema seized power. The officers have placed Bongo under house arrest and installed Nguema as head of state, ending the Bongo family's 56-year grip on power.

The coup saw large crowds flooding the streets of the capital Libreville in support of the military’s move.

About a third of Gabon’s 2.3 million population are living under the poverty line.

In a televised address Nguema said that the military would proceed "quickly but surely" to return civilian rule, but that it would avoid elections that "repeat the same mistakes" by keeping the same individuals in power.

"Going as quickly as possible does not mean organizing ad hoc elections, where we will end up with the same errors," he said.

Bongo was first elected in 2009, taking over from his late father, who came to power in 1967. Opponents say the ruling family did little to share Gabon's oil and mining wealth.

For years, the Bongo family resided at a luxurious palace overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. According to a 2020 investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a global network of investigative journalists, the family owns expensive cars and properties in France and the United States, often paid for in cash.

Military leaders ordered the arrest of one of Bongo's sons, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, and several members of Bongo's cabinet on accusations ranging from embezzlement to narcotics trafficking.

State broadcaster Gabon 24 said on Thursday that duffel bags stuffed with cash wrapped in plastic had been confiscated from the homes of various officials. Footage from the broadcaster shows a raid on the house of a former cabinet director.

Standing next to Bongo Valentin, the new military ruler told the channel that the money was part of Bongo's election fund. Money that the military rulers say was used in a corrupt election campaign.

The news emerging from the African country will be seen as yet another headache for France, on the backdrop of military coups in other regional countries where Paris had military ties signed by its former presidents.

France has hundreds of troops permanently stationed in Gabon, including at a military base in the capital, Libreville. 

Paris also has a wide range of economic interests linked to Gabon’s mining and oil sectors.

Meanwhile, tensions are peaking in Niger amid mass weekend anti-French rallies as the strained relations mount between the country's new military government and its former colonial power.

An organization set up after the coup named the Patriotic Front for Niger Sovereignty has led the public’s demands for military officers to take a hard line against France.

The protests, organized by the M62 grouping, have been taking place in central Niamey to demand the departure of the French contingent. "We don't need these people (French troops) here, we're ready to die to get them out," one demonstrator said.

France has around 1,500 troops in Niger, many of them stationed at an airbase near the capital.

Niger’s pro-military civilian organizations had called for a massive march on Saturday on the French base, followed by a sit-in until the troops leave.

The new rulers have been engaged in a political battle with Paris, stripped France's ambassador of diplomatic immunity and ordered police to expel him, according to a letter seen by news outlets. 

Last Friday, authorities gave the French envoy, Sylvain Itte, 48 hours to leave Nigerian soil.

The envoy "no longer enjoys the privileges and immunities attached to his status as a member of the diplomatic personnel in the French embassy," according to the letter sent to the French foreign ministry.

France refused the demand, saying the military rulers had no right to carry out such an order.

Relations with France spiraled downwards after the July coup as Paris continues to stand by the ousted president Mohamed Bazoum and refuses to recognize Niger's new rulers.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that he spoke on a daily basis with his former ally, Bazoum.

"I speak every day to President Bazoum. We support him. We do not recognize those who carried out the putsch. The decisions we will take, whatever they may be, will be based upon exchanges with Bazoum," said Macron.

Niger's military government, which seized power on July 26, has accused Macron of using divisive rhetoric in his comments about Bazoum and of seeking to perpetrate France's neo-colonial relationship with its former colony.

The new rulers accuse France of fueling instability on their territory. They also accuse France of using its purported military presence in Niger to battle militants as a pretext for tapping into the country’s uranium and oil reserves.

On August 3, Niger's new rulers denounced military agreements signed between Bazoum and France.

French military spokesman Colonel Pierre Gaudilliere has warned that "the French military forces are ready to respond to any upturn in tension that could harm French diplomatic and military premises in Niger".

Algeria, Niger's influential northern neighbor, has held talks with West African leaders in a bid to avoid any military intervention in Niger and has proposed a six-month transition.

Amid threats of a military intervention in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have been quick to offer support, saying any operation would be deemed a "declaration of war" against them. 

Recently, all three states have publicly condemned France for fuelling regional instability. 

Burkina Faso has approved a draft law authorizing the dispatch of troops to Niger, according to a government statement in Ouagadougou.

Niger's new leaders say they are seeking a three-year transition period to restore constitutional order.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has suggested a nine-month transition back to democracy for Niger's new rulers in the bloc's first apparent timeline since the July coup.

It was the first time an ECOWAS official has publicly discussed a possible transition period for Niger's military rulers.

However, France and the United States have demanded a swift return to Bazoum’s presidency.