Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau appeared on state television on Wednesday saying that they had seized power in the country, following reports of gunshots near the presidential palace and three days after national elections.
The president told French media that he had been deposed and arrested.
It is the latest of several coups in the past few years in west Africa.
Photo: Reuters
“The High Military Command for the re-establishment of national and public order decides to immediately depose the president of the republic, to suspend, until new orders, all of the institutions of the republic of Guinea-Bissau,” military spokesperson Dinis N’Tchama said in a statement.
N’Tchama said that the military had acted in response to the “discovery of an ongoing plan” that aimed to destabilize the country by attempting to “manipulate electoral results.”
The “scheme was set up by some national politicians with the participation of a well-known drug lord, and domestic and foreign nationals,” N’Tchama said without further explanation.
The soldiers said that they were immediately suspending the electoral process and the activities of media firms, as well as closing all borders.
Guinea-Bissau has had four coups and numerous attempted ones since independence, including one reported last month.
The presidential and legislative elections were held on Sunday. Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and opposition candidate Fernando Dias each claimed victory on Tuesday, even though official provisional results were not expected until yesterday.
Gunfire was heard at midday on Wednesday near the presidential palace.
An Associated Press journalist saw roads leading to the palace closed off, with heavily armed and masked soldiers stationed at checkpoints.
An official from the presidential palace said that a group of armed men tried to attack the building, leading to an exchange of gunfire with guards.
Another official from the Guinea-Bissau Ministry of the Interior said that they also heard gunshots near the National Electoral Commission nearby.
The two spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly on the matter.
A key member of an international election observer group said that the election commission chief was arrested and the commission office was sealed off by the military.
“The president has been speaking to people saying he’s being held by the military,” the observer group staffer told reporters.
They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to speak publicly on the matter.
French news firm Jeune Afrique quoted Embalo as saying that he was arrested in what he called a coup led by the army chief of staff.
He said he was not subjected to violence.
“I have been deposed,” Embalo told French television network France 24.
Embalo had faced a legitimacy crisis, with the opposition saying his tenure had long expired and that they did not recognize him as president.
Guinea-Bissau’s constitution sets the presidential term at five years. Embalo first came to power in February 2020.
The opposition said that his term should have ended on Feb. 27, but the Guinea-Bissau Supreme Court ruled that it should run until Sept. 4.
The presidential election was delayed until this month.
Soldiers arrested Embalo’s rival Fernando Dias as well as Domingos Simoes Pereira, the leader of the main opposition African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, the party said in a statement on Facebook on Wednesday.
Former Guinea-Bissau prime minister Domingos Simoes Pereira was seen as Embalo’s main challenger before he and his party were barred from the election after authorities said they failed to submit their application early.
He later endorsed Dias for the election.
A UN official on Wednesday said that the world body was following the situation in Guinea-Bissau “with deep concern.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “appeals to all national stakeholders in Guinea-Bissau to exercise restraint and respect the rule of law,” said Stephane Dujarric, Guterres’ spokesman.
In a joint statement, the election observation missions of the African Union and of the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, denounced a “blatant attempt to disrupt the democratic process” and called for a return to the “constitutional order.”
It also urged the immediate release of detained election officials.
The civil society coalition Popular Front accused Embalo and the army of staging a “simulated coup” to block the release of election results and cling on to power.
“This maneuver aims to prevent the publication of the electoral results scheduled for tomorrow, Nov. 27,” the group said in a statement on Wednesday.
It said it planned to name a new president and interim prime minister, then call fresh elections in which he intended to run again.
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