Guinea-Bissau’s military appointed a general as the country’s new leader for the duration of one year on Thursday, a day after seizing power, arresting the president and derailing the announcement of election results.
The capital was at a standstill as the coup entered its second day on Thursday, with most shops and markets closed, AFP said.
The country’s new leaders banned protests, and a heavy security presence was visible in the streets of Bissau, with soldiers patrolling the area around the presidential palace, where heavy gunfire marked the beginning of the coup a day earlier.
Sandwiched between Guinea and Senegal, Guinea-Bissau has experienced four coups since its independence from Portugal in 1974, as well as multiple attempted coups. Its election results are often contested.
After taking the oath of office at the military’s headquarters, General Horta N’Tam, chief of staff of the army, declared that “I have just been sworn in to lead the High Command”.
He is considered to have been close in recent years with ousted President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, whom he now replaces as leader.
Dozens of heavily armed soldiers were at the scene as he told a press conference that actions were necessary “to block operations that aimed to threaten our democracy”.
Officers on Wednesday said they had seized “total control” of the country, suspending the electoral process as Guinea-Bissau awaited the results of last Sunday’s vote, which pitted Embalo against opposition candidate Fernando Dias.
N’Tam said evidence had been “sufficient to justify the operation” adding that “necessary measures are urgent and important and require everyone’s participation”.
On Wednesday afternoon, General Denis N’Canha, head of the presidential military office, told journalists that the military was assuming control of the country “until further notice” after a plan involving “drug lords” had been uncovered, including “the introduction of weapons into the country to alter the constitutional order”.
In addition to halting “the entire electoral process”, he said military forces had suspended “all media programming”.
All land, air and sea borders were reopened Thursday after being sealed off, according to a general.
The High Command, created under the new military government, additionally lifted the country’s curfew and ordered the “immediate reopening” of markets, schools and private institutions in a statement Thursday.
It additionally warned against rallies, saying that it “strictly prohibits any demonstration, march, strike or action that disrupts peace and stability”.
Daily Trust
