Military takes control of Guinea-Bissau after disputed election

Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau appeared Wednesday on state television saying they have taken control of the country.

In a statement, the military high command said it had “assumed the full powers of the State of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau”.

It said this was in reaction to “the discovery of an ongoing plan” aiming to destabilise the country by attempting to “manipulate electoral results”.

The military’s announcement came a day after both the top candidates in last week’s tightly contested presidential election declared victory.

Earlier in the day, shots were heard at several sites in the capital, Bissau, including the presidential palace, although it’s unclear who was responsible.

Military spokesperson, Dinis N’Tchama, said the soldiers had formed “the high military command for the restoration of order”, which would rule the country until further notice.

“To suspend, until new orders, all of the institutions of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, to suspend, until new orders, the activities of all media outlets, to immediately suspend the current electoral process, to close the land border, by sea and national airspace,” he said.

Journalists in the capital reported seeing roads leading to the presidential palace closed off, with checkpoints manned by heavily armed and masked soldiers.

Outgoing President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa both claimed to have won last week’s election.

The election commission was due to announce provisional results in the presidential and parliamentary elections on Thursday.

A key member of the international election observer group said the election commission chief was arrested and that the commission office was sealed off by the military.

French news outlet, Jeune Afrique, quoted Embaló as saying he was arrested in what he called a coup led by the army chief of staff. He said he was not subjected to violence.

He had faced a legitimacy crisis with the opposition saying his tenure had long expired and that they do not recognise him as president.

Embaló came to power in February 2020, but the country’s constitution sets the presidential term at five years.

The military takeover is the latest in a string of coups and attempted coups in Guinea-Bissau since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974.

Source: Africa News [www.africanews.com]