By International News Agencies
BISSAU / DAKAR — Military officers in Guinea-Bissau have declared that they have seized control of the country following a tense day of gunfire in the capital and mounting uncertainty around Sunday’s disputed presidential election.
Government sources said that President Umaro Sissoco Embaló had been arrested soon after shots were heard across Bissau.
State TV later broadcast uniformed officers on Wednesday announcing the suspension of the electoral process “until further notice,” proclaiming that they had assumed authority under what they called the High Military Command for the Restoration of Order.
The soldiers also ordered the closure of all borders.
The president himself appeared to confirm his removal from power, telling France 24 via phone: “I have been deposed.” Embaló said he was being held at the general staff headquarters.
Earlier, panicked residents fled on foot and by vehicle as gunfire echoed for nearly an hour.
This unrest erupted amid a contested election that had already stirred political tension, with both Embaló and his challenger Fernando Dias claiming victory despite no official result.
The vote had been overshadowed by accusations of unfairness after the main opposition PAIGC party was barred from fielding a candidate.
Civil society groups warned that the decision to bar the PAIGC party from fielding a candidate would undermine the legitimacy of the election.
Reporting from neighbouring Senegal, Al Jazeera journalist Nicolas Haque said that not only had Embaló been detained, but also Domingos Simões Pereira, head of the PAIGC — as well as other senior officials.
Haque noted that the coup was led by General Denis N’Canha, the president’s chief security officer: “The man supposed to protect the president himself has put the president under arrest,” he said.
Guinea-Bissau — one of the poorest nations in the world — has endured persistent political instability since independence from Portugal in 1974.
This latest takeover marks the country’s ninth coup or attempted coup.
Embaló, elected in 2019, has previously claimed survival of numerous coup plots, though his critics accuse him of exaggerating crises to consolidate power.
The United Nations (UN), urged restraint, with secretary-general António Guterres expressing “deep concern” and appealing for respect for legal institutions.
Portugal, the former colonial power, called on all parties to refrain from violence and allow democratic procedures to resume.
The election commission had been scheduled to release official results on Thursday.
