Coup-Prone Guinea-Bissau: Officers Suspend Electoral Process, Cite Drug Baron Plot to Destabilise Nation
Bissau: A group of military officers in Guinea-Bissau announced they have seized control of the country, dissolving all institutions and arresting President Umaro Sissoco Embaló. The officers appeared on state TV to announce the formation of the “High Military Command for the Restoration of Order,” suspending the electoral process and imposing a night-time curfew.
The coup follows Sunday’s presidential election, where both the incumbent, Embaló, and his closest rival, Fernando Dias, had prematurely claimed victory, creating a political vacuum ahead of the expected official results.
The military officers claimed they were acting to thwart a plot by unnamed politicians, supported by a “well-known drug baron,” to destabilise the country by attempting to manipulate the election results. In response, they have closed Guinea-Bissau’s borders and arrested several key figures.
Government sources confirmed that President Embaló was detained and that the putschists also took the military chief, Gen Biague Na Ntan, his deputy, Gen Mamadou Touré, and Interior Minister Botché Candé into custody. Additionally, Dias’s ally, former Prime Minister Domingos Pereira, was also reportedly detained.
Sandwiched between Senegal and Guinea , the coup-prone West African nation is a notorious drug-trafficking hub. Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has witnessed at least nine coups or attempted coups over the last five decades, underscoring the military’s deep political influence.
