Guinea-Bissau Military Seizes Power: Streets Empty as President Arrested Amid Election Halt

Streets in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, were largely deserted on Thursday after the military seized power, arresting President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and halting the announcement of election results. Borders were closed in the coup-prone West African nation, and soldiers patrolled areas around the presidential palace.

AFP journalists reported that military patrols combed through the capital overnight, with only a few civilians walking along the main road to the presidential palace, where heavy gunfire had erupted the previous day.

On Wednesday, a group of officers declared they had seized “total control,” suspending the electoral process as the nation awaited the results of last Sunday’s vote, which President Embalo was expected to win. Official provisional results had been anticipated on Thursday.

In a statement to journalists, General Denis N’Canha, head of the presidential military office, said a command “composed of all branches of the armed forces” was taking control of the country “until further notice.” He claimed a plot to destabilise Guinea-Bissau involving “drug lords” had been uncovered, which included “the introduction of weapons into the country to alter the constitutional order.”

The military also suspended “all media programming,” closed “land, air, and sea” borders, and imposed a mandatory curfew. A military source said the head of the so-called “High Command for the Restoration of Order” would be announced on Thursday.

Guinea-Bissau, located between Guinea and Senegal, has experienced four coups since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, alongside multiple attempted coups. The West African region has recently seen a string of military takeovers, including in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Guinea.

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