Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau announced they were taking “total control” of the country three days after elections in which both leading presidential contenders say they won. In a statement read at the army headquarters in the capital, Bissau, and broadcast on state television, military officers said they were suspending the electoral process, closing the borders and forming “the high military command for the restoration of order,” which would govern until further notice.
Earlier on Wednesday, gunfire was heard near the election commission headquarters, the presidential palace and the interior ministry, although it was unclear who was responsible.
The takeover is the latest episode in a long pattern of coups and attempted coups since Guinea-Bissau’s independence from Portugal in 1974. The country of about 2.2 million had an average annual income of just $963 in 2024, according to the World Bank. The UN labelled Guinea-Bissau a “narco state” in 2008 because of its role as a hub for the global cocaine trade. Experts say the nation’s coastline, river deltas and the 88 islands of the Bijagós archipelago have provided discrete drop-off points used by Colombian drug cartels.
Incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embaló had been seeking a second term, a feat no president has achieved in three decades. Both Embaló and his main rival, Fernando Dias, claimed victory in the first round held on Sunday.
A spokesperson for Embaló said the shots were fired by gunmen linked to Dias, while an ally of Dias accused Embaló of fabricating a coup attempt to justify declaring an emergency and remaining in power. Neither side produced evidence.
The election commission was due to announce provisional presidential and parliamentary results on Thursday.
There have been at least nine coups in Guinea-Bissau between independence and Embaló’s 2020 inauguration, according to Reuters. Embaló says he survived three coup attempts during his first term, the most recent in October. Critics, however, contend he has invented such threats to crack down on opponents. In December 2023, gunfire rang out in Bissau for hours; Embaló described it as an attempted coup, dissolved parliament, and the country has lacked a properly functioning legislature since.
Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report.
