Guinea Bissau

Guinea-Bissau's electoral commission says that it cannot publish the results of last week's contested election as the vote counts have been destroyed in an attack. The military took control of the country a day before the provisional results were due to be announced.

Military takeovers are nothing new in Guinea-Bissau. The West African country has experienced at least nine attempted and successful coups since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974. But when military officers announced they had seized control of the country last Wednesday, some analysts and political figures were sceptical.

West African regional bloc ECOWAS on Thursday condemned a military takeover in Guinea-Bissau. The bloc called for the release of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and other arrested officials.

An army general has been sworn in as Guinea-Bissau's new head of state a day after an apparent coup. Gen Horta N'Tam becomes the transitional president for a period of one year. He took the oath on Thursday, in brief and muted proceedings in the army headquarters. The military had already suspended the electoral process and blocked the release of the results of Sunday's presidential election which were expected on Thursday.

As the West African nation prepares to hold parliamentary and presidential polls, the disqualification of major opposition figures leaves incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embalo in a strong position.

Guinea-Bissau's former prime minister, Domingos Simoes Pereira is planning a return to the country – and a run for the presidency. Simoes Pereira, who leads the opposition African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), made the announcement in Lisbon. He settled in the Portuguese capital shortly after President Embalo dissolved Guinea-Bissau's National Assembly in 2023.  

President Embalo's term in office has officially expired. However, he remains in power and intends to run for re-election in late 2025, if at all. The opposition and civil society are calling it an "institutional coup." 

The opposition in Guinea-Bissau has pledged to bring the nation to a halt on Thursday amid a conflict regarding the expiration date of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo's five-year term. Opposition figures assert that Embalo's mandate concludes on Thursday, while the Supreme Court of Justice in Guinea-Bissau has determined that it actually ends on September 4.

[…] The unexpected announcement could trigger a power vacuum and heighten political instability in the coup-prone country of around two million people.

Guinea-Bissau is becoming increasingly dangerous for critical journalists and opposition figures. A "people's movement" is now daring to rise up against President Umaro Sissoco Embalo.