GUINEA-BISSAU: Military Seizes Power, Suspends Elections And Closes Borders In Fresh Coup

By Onoja Baba 

Military officers in Guinea-Bissau on Wednesday announced they have taken “total control” of the country, suspended the entire electoral process, closed all borders, imposed a curfew and halted media broadcasts, three days after tightly contested presidential and legislative elections.

Heavy gunfire erupted near the presidential palace in the capital Bissau earlier in the day as uniformed soldiers blocked the main access road.

In the afternoon, Brigadier General Denis N’Canha, head of the presidential military office, declared the takeover at a press conference surrounded by armed troops.

N’Canha claimed the coup was necessary to prevent a plot involving “national drug lords” who allegedly planned to smuggle weapons into the country and overthrow constitutional order.

Incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, widely expected to win Sunday’s vote, was reported to be inside a building at military headquarters alongside the chief of staff and interior minister.

It remains unclear whether he has been placed under arrest.

Both Embaló and his main challenger, Fernando Dias, had already proclaimed victory ahead of official provisional results due on Thursday.

The elections had excluded the historic opposition PAIGC party after the Supreme Court disqualified it on technical grounds.

The National Electoral Commission headquarters was also attacked by unidentified armed men on Wednesday.

Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest nations and a known transit hub for Latin American cocaine bound for Europe, has suffered four successful coups and numerous attempts since independence from Portugal in 1974.

The latest takeover marks yet another chapter in the country’s chronic political instability.