DAILY MAIL
British conservation expert feared to be missing in central African nation amid shocking military takeover
- Lee White posted photos from Gabon hours before military said it seized power
- READ MORE: Gabon coup: Army officers announce they have taken power
A British conservation expert was last night feared to have been caught up in a coup in Gabon.
Lee White, 58, posted photos from the capital of the African nation hours before the military said it had seized power.
He was a senior minister in the cabinet of deposed president Ali Bongo and had campaigned for him in recent elections.
The army seized power early yesterday, within minutes of Mr Bongo being declared winner in the election.
He was placed under house arrest and the military said it had arrested one of his sons for treason.
Soldiers said others in the president’s circle had been arrested for ‘high betrayal of state institutions, massive embezzlement of public funds and international financial embezzlement’.
It was not clear if those detained included ministers from the president’s cabinet but a spokesman said the military had stepped in because ‘unpredictable, irresponsible governance’ had risked leading the country into chaos.
Professor White, who was awarded a CBE in 2010 for services to conservation, tweeted on Tuesday that he was in Libreville and waiting for the election results to be announced.
‘All is calm but the government has cut internet as a precaution following some provocative statements by opposition politicians,’ he said.
Professor White, a married father-of-three, was minister of forests, oceans, environment and climate change in Mr Bongo’s regime.
His wife Kate, a biology and environmental science professor at Stirling University in Scotland, has also worked in Gabon for many years, but it is not known if she was in the country at the time of the coup.
Mr Bongo’s family has ruled Gabon since 1967 and he attended King Charles’s coronation in May.
In September 2021 the then Prince of Wales hosted him at Kew for a visit focusing on biodiversity.
