Gabon voters approve new constitution after Bongo overthrow

Voters in Gabon overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, authorities said Sunday, more than one year after mutinous soldiers overthrew the country’s longtime president and seized power in the oil-rich Central African nation. Over 91% of voters approved the new constitution in a referendum held on Saturday, Gabon’s Interior Minister Hermann Immongault said in a statement read on state television. Turnout was an estimated 53.5%, he added. General Brice Oliqui Nguema, who overthrew President Ali Bongo Ondimba last year, urged voters to approve the new constitution to pave the way to democratic rule. Gabonese rights and democracy activist Franck Jocktane explain to VOA’s James Butty, why he voted ‘no’ for the new constitution.