Marrakech – Guinea-Bissau’s military deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embalo on Wednesday and assumed control of the West African nation. The coup occurred one day before officials were scheduled to announce results from Sunday’s contested presidential election.
A group of military officers identifying themselves as the “High Military Command for the Restoration of National Security and Public Order” read a statement at armed forces headquarters. The announcement was broadcast on state television TGB. The officers declared they had “assumed full powers of the state.”
The military justified their actions by claiming they had uncovered a plot to “destabilize” Guinea-Bissau. According to the officers, the scheme involved national politicians, a “well-known drug baron,” and both nationals and foreigners. They also alleged attempts to manipulate election results.
Brigadier General Denis N’Canha, head of the military household at the presidential palace, announced the takeover. The officers ordered immediate suspension of the electoral process “until further notice.” They closed all land, sea, and air borders and imposed a nine-hour curfew from 9 p.m. local time.
The military takeover followed gunfire near the presidential palace, election commission headquarters, and Interior Ministry. Witnesses described scenes of panic as hundreds of people fled on foot and in vehicles when shots rang out around midday.
Power struggles routinely unsettle the fragile state
President Embalo confirmed his removal in a phone call to French broadcaster France 24, stating: “I have been deposed.” He said he was arrested around noon while in his office at the presidential palace. Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces General Biague Na Ntan, his deputy General Mamadou Toure, and Interior Minister Botche Cande were detained simultaneously.
Both presidential candidates had claimed victory in Sunday’s election. Fernando Dias, an independent candidate, and incumbent President Embalo’s camp each declared they won the first round of voting. The electoral commission was due to announce provisional results on Thursday.
Domingos Simoes Pereira, former Prime Minister who backed Dias, was also arrested and taken to the Air Force Base according to French broadcaster RFI.
Pereira leads the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which spearheaded the independence movement from Portugal in 1974. He was disqualified from this year’s election after authorities said he filed his papers late.
Earlier on Wednesday, Dias had urged the military to remain neutral and stay distant from the electoral process. “We are not asking for anything,” he told reporters, adding that he would wait for official results.
Guinea-Bissau has experienced chronic political instability since independence from Portugal in 1974. The country has endured at least nine coups or attempted coups between 1980 and 2020. Embalo claimed to have survived three coup attempts during his first term, including the most recent in October.
Critics accused Embalo of fabricating previous putsch attempts to justify crackdowns on opposition. In December 2023, gunfire was heard for hours in the capital during what Embalo’s government called an attempted coup. He dissolved parliament in response, and the country has operated without a functioning legislature since then.
‘A narco-state’
The small coastal nation of approximately 2 million people remains one of the world’s poorest countries. The World Bank reported Guinea-Bissau’s average yearly income was just $963 in 2024. The United Nations labeled it a “narco-state” in 2008 due to its role as a major transit hub for cocaine trafficking from Latin America to Europe.
Guinea-Bissau’s coastline features numerous river deltas and the 88 islands of the Bijagós archipelago. These geographical features provide natural, discrete drop-off points used by Colombian drug cartels. Under Embalo’s presidency, the cocaine trade appeared to flourish, with authorities seizing 2.63 tons of cocaine from a Venezuelan plane in September 2023.
Embalo was seeking to become the first president in three decades to win a second consecutive term. The lead-up to Sunday’s vote was marked by controversy, with opposition groups arguing that Embalo had already overstayed his mandate.
International reactions emerged swiftly following the coup. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is following developments in Guinea-Bissau “with deep concern,” according to spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
“He appeals to all national stakeholders in Guinea-Bissau to exercise restraint and exercise and respect the rule of law,” Dujarric told reporters. “The Secretary General will continue to closely follow the situation in the country as it unfolds,” he added.
In what appears to be a lingering residue of colonial paternalism – an enduring discursivity that positions the former metropole as arbiter over its ex-colony – the Portuguese government called for all parties to refrain from “any act of institutional or civic violence.” Portugal urged that Guinea-Bissau’s state institutions be allowed to function to finalize the electoral process.
The military suspended all media activities and instructed the population to “remain calm” and “understand” the situation “in the face of this serious situation imposed by the national emergency.” The coup represents the latest chapter in Guinea-Bissau’s troubled political history as the nation struggles with poverty, drug trafficking, and institutional instability.
