Coup in Guinea-Bissau as soldiers announce takeover

Guinea-Bissau plunged into fresh political turmoil on Wednesday after military officers announced they had seized full control of the country, shutting borders and suspending the ongoing electoral process just three days after general elections.

The declaration came hours after intense gunfire erupted near the presidential palace, with soldiers in uniform blocking access roads and occupying strategic points in the capital.

General Denis N’Canha, head of the presidential military office, told journalists that a command drawn from all branches of the armed forces had taken charge of national leadership “until further notice.” He made the announcement while flanked by heavily armed troops.

Incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embalo—widely expected to win Sunday’s vote—was reportedly inside a building behind military headquarters alongside the chief of staff and the interior minister. It remained unclear whether he had been detained.

Both Embalo and his main challenger, Fernando Dias, had already claimed victory, with provisional results scheduled for release on Thursday.

Guinea-Bissau, long plagued by instability, has witnessed four successful coups since independence and several failed attempts. N’Canha alleged that the military had uncovered a plot involving “national drug barons,” claiming weapons were smuggled into the country to undermine the constitutional order.

Alongside suspending the entire electoral process, the military shut down all media programming and imposed a nationwide curfew.

Guinea-Bissau—one of the world’s poorest nations—has long been a key transit point for cocaine smuggling from Latin America to Europe, a trade strengthened by chronic political instability.

Earlier on Wednesday, unidentified armed men also attacked the National Electoral Commission, according to Abdourahmane Djalo, the commission’s communications officer.

More than 6,780 security personnel, including ECOWAS stabilisation forces, had been deployed for the vote and post-election period. The 2019 presidential election sparked a four-month standoff after both leading candidates declared victory.

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This year’s vote notably excluded the main opposition PAIGC and its leader, Domingos Simoes Pereira, after the Supreme Court ruled their applications were submitted too late. Embalo dissolved the opposition-led legislature in 2023 and has ruled by decree since then.

Opposition groups insist PAIGC’s exclusion is evidence of electoral manipulation and argue that Embalo’s mandate expired on February 27—five years from his inauguration.

AFP