Guinea-Bissau Military Officers Claim ‘Total Control of Country,’ Arrest President Umaro Sissoco Embaló Amid Disputed Election
Soldiers seize power three days after elections, gunfire erupts near presidential palace as both candidates claim victory
- Military seizes control, suspends elections, and closes borders
- Gunfire reported near presidential palace; residents flee
- Both President Embaló and opposition Dias claim victory amid political tension
Military officers in Guinea-Bissau announced on Wednesday that they were taking “total control” of the country, suspending the electoral process, and closing its borders—three days after legislative and presidential elections in the poverty-stricken West African nation.
The announcement was made at army headquarters in the capital, Bissau, where journalists observed personnel reading a formal statement.
Earlier in the day, gunfire erupted near the presidential palace as uniformed soldiers took control of the main road leading to the building. Residents and vehicles quickly fled the area.
Provisional official results from the election are expected Thursday. Both incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and opposition candidate Fernando Dias have claimed victory, despite the vote being marked by the exclusion of the main opposition party, PAIGC, and its candidate Domingos Simões Pereira.
Pereira and PAIGC were removed from the candidate list by the Supreme Court in October, citing late application submissions. Embaló and Pereira are long-standing political rivals; the 2019 presidential election ended in a four-month post-election crisis, with both claiming victory.
Passersby described the chaotic scenes near the palace with resignation. “We’re used to it in Bissau,” one said.
Just a day earlier, Issifu Baba Braimah Kamara, head of the ECOWAS observation mission, had praised the “peaceful conduct of the vote.”
Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest countries, has endured four coups since independence and remains a key hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a trade enabled by its chronic political instability.
