A video has gone viral on social media, claiming that the Finance Minister of Gabon is in possession of bags full of money while attempting to flee the country after a recent military coup. On August 30, 2023, a coup took place in the Gabonese Republic following the announcement of incumbent President Ali Bongo Ondimba’s victory in the general election held on August 26. This coup marked the end of the Bongo family’s 56-year-long rule over Gabon.
The video is shared on Facebook with a caption: “Gabon’s Finance Minister trying to flee the country with bags of money”.
Here’s the link to the above post.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be MISLEADING.
Conducting a reverse image search of the screenshots from the video, our team found similar visuals published by a YouTube channel on September 20, 2022. This YouTube channel claimed that the footage depicted the former Gabonese National Assembly President, Guy Nzouba-Ndama, being apprehended with suitcases of money near the border between Gabon and Congo Brazzaville.
The similar image was also found in an article, published on September 17, 2022. According to the article, Guy Nzouba-Ndama, former President of the Gabonese National Assembly and leader of the Les Democrats (LD) Party, was apprehended with approximately $2 million (1.18 billion FR CFA) in suitcases near Gabon’s Haut-Ogooué border area. Guy Nzouba-Ndama was allegedly found in possession of this money when he was returning from a trip to the neighbouring country of Congo Brazzaville, according to reports.
Guy Nzouba-Ndama is, indeed, a prominent opposition party leader in Gabon, and it’s worth noting that he was not a part of Ali Bongo’s government, which was recently ousted by military officers under the leadership of General Brice Oligui Nguema during the coup.
Thus, it is clear that an unrelated video has gone viral falsely claiming that Gabonese Finance Minister was caught with suitcases of money after the coup.
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