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 leader. At the time of these rumors, President Nguesso was attending the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Information Minister Thierry Moungalla responded to these accusations on X (previously Twitter) on Sunday by categorically denying them, saying, “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 reports 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 occurring in the nearby country of Gabon, where military forces took over in August.
Through a military coup 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.
