Guinea-Bissau army general named president a day after apparent coup

A military basic has been sworn in as Guinea-Bissau’s new head of state a day after an obvious coup.

Gen Horta N’Tam turns into the transitional president for a interval of 1 12 months. He took the oath on Thursday, briefly and muted proceedings within the military headquarters.

The navy had already suspended the electoral course of and blocked the discharge of the outcomes of Sunday’s presidential election which have been anticipated on Thursday.

Some civil society teams in Guinea-Bissau have accused outgoing President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of masterminding a “simulated coup” in opposition to himself with the assistance of the navy, saying it was a ruse to dam election outcomes from popping out in case he loses.

“This manoeuvre goals to stop the publication of the electoral outcomes scheduled for tomorrow, November 27,” the civil society coalition Common Entrance mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday.

The president has not responded to the allegations.

He has mentioned he has survived a number of coup makes an attempt throughout his time in workplace. Nonetheless, his critics have beforehand accused him of fabricating crises with the intention to crack down on dissent.

Sandwiched between Senegal and Guinea, the West African nation is named a infamous drug-trafficking hub the place the navy has been influential since independence from Portugal in 1974.

Guinea-Bissau has witnessed not less than 9 coups or tried coups during the last 5 a long time.

The newest of those, on Wednesday, noticed a bunch of navy officers announce they’ve seized management of the nation, following studies that President Embaló had been arrested.

Gunshots have been heard within the capital, Bissau however it was not instantly clear who was concerned within the taking pictures or if there have been any casualties.

The officers then appeared on state TV, saying they’d suspended the electoral course of.

They mentioned they have been performing to thwart a plot by unnamed politicians who had “the help of a well known drug baron” to destabilise the nation, and introduced the closure of its borders and imposed a night-time curfew.

The election outcomes have been anticipated on Thursday – each Embaló and his closest rival Fernando Dias had claimed victory.

Dias was supported by former Prime Minister Domingos Pereira, who had been disqualified from working.

Late on Wednesday afternoon, Embaló informed France 24 in a telephone name: “I’ve been deposed.”

Authorities sources later informed the BBC that Dias, Pereira and Inside Minister Botché Candé had additionally been detained.

The identical sources mentioned the putschists had taken military chief Gen Biague Na Ntan and his deputy, Gen Mamadou Touré, into custody too.

In a joint assertion, leaders of election statement missions from the African Union and the West African bloc Ecowas expressed “deep concern with the announcement of a coup d’etat by the armed forces”.

They mentioned the nation had been ready for the announcement of the election outcomes after what it described as an “orderly and peaceable” course of.

“It is regrettable that this announcement got here at a time when the missions had simply concluded assembly with the 2 main presidential candidates, who assured us of their willingness to just accept the need of the individuals,” they mentioned.

Portugal, the nation’s former colonial ruler, has known as for a return to constitutional order, with its overseas ministry urging “all these concerned to chorus from any act of institutional or civic violence”.

As of Thursday, the AFP information company reported that Guinea-Bissau’s borders had reopened.

Embaló, 53, had needed to make historical past because the nation’s solely president to safe a second consecutive mandate within the final 30 years.

He had initially mentioned he wouldn’t search a second time period. Previous to the delayed polls, his legitimacy was questioned, with the opposition saying his time period ought to have formally led to February 2025.

Guinea-Bissau is likely one of the poorest international locations on this planet with a inhabitants of greater than two million individuals.

Its shoreline has many uninhabited islands, making it preferrred for drug traffickers – with the UN dubbing it a “narco-state” because it has been a key transit level for cocaine coming from Latin America to Europe.

Extra reporting by Richard Kagoe