Mapaballo Borotho
- Guinea-Bissau’s ousted President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has arrived safely in Senegal after Ecowas-facilitated negotiations.
- A new transitional leader, Gen Horta N’Tam, has been sworn in as the military blocks election processes and imposes border closures and curfews.
- International bodies, including the UN, have expressed deep concern as the coup adds to the country’s long history of political instability.
Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has reportedly arrived in Senegal following his release by military forces that overthrew his government on Wednesday.
Embalo’s arrival follows negotiations by the regional West African bloc Ecowas to secure his transfer amid rising tensions in Guinea-Bissau.
Senegal’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Embaló landed in the country “safe and sound” on a chartered military flight on Thursday evening.
The military in Guinea-Bissau has already sworn in a new transitional leader, Gen Horta N’Tam, who will rule the coup-prone country for a year.
The coup toppled the government just a day before the authorities were due to announce the provisional results of a presidential and parliamentary election.
All electoral processes and the release of results have already been blocked.
According to BBC News, the Military said it was acting to thwart a plot by unnamed politicians who had “the support of a well-known drug baron” to destabilise the country, and announced the closure of its borders and imposed a night-time curfew.
The coup-prone country is known as a notorious drug-trafficking hub where the military has been influential since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement that he was “deeply concerned” about the situation in Guinea Bissau, calling for an “immediate and unconditional restoration of constitutional order”.
Guinea-Bissau has witnessed at least nine coups or attempted coups over the last five decades.
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