Guinea-Bissau’s military on Thursday appointed Army Chief of Staff General Horta N’Tam as the country’s interim leader for a one-year period, a day after soldiers seized power, detained President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, and halted the release of election results.
The capital, Bissau, remained largely paralysed as the coup entered its second day. Shops and markets stayed shut, and soldiers maintained a heavy presence around key government facilities, including the presidential palace where gunfire erupted at the start of the takeover.
Guinea-Bissau, a small West African nation positioned between Senegal and Guinea, has endured four successful coups and several failed attempts since independence from Portugal in 1974. Disputed elections and longstanding political tensions have frequently destabilised the country.
After being sworn in at military headquarters, N’Tam declared he was assuming leadership of the High Command, emphasising that the operation was necessary “to block operations that aimed to threaten our democracy.” In recent years, he was widely perceived as close to Embaló, the very president he is now replacing.
Dozens of heavily armed troops stood guard as the general justified the intervention, stating that the military had sufficient evidence to act and that “urgent measures” were required to stabilise the country.
The coup leaders had earlier announced on Wednesday that they were taking “total control” of the state, suspending the electoral process at a critical moment when the nation awaited results from last Sunday’s vote between Embaló and opposition candidate Fernando Dias. Both camps had already claimed victory.
General Denis N’Canha, head of the presidential military office, said the army moved to prevent a plot involving “drug lords” and the alleged importation of weapons intended to undermine the constitutional order. The military also suspended media broadcasts, imposed a curfew and initially closed all borders. The borders were reopened on Thursday, according to General Lassana Mansali.
Despite the military’s claims, members of Guinea-Bissau’s diaspora and regional analysts questioned the justification for the takeover. Some researchers suggested that unverified early tallies had shown Dias in the lead, raising concerns that the coup may have been intended to prevent an opposition victory.
“This is a coup aimed at preventing Fernando Dias from seizing power,” a West African analyst said, adding that the situation could eventually benefit Embaló if negotiations later allow him to return to political relevance.
Alongside Embaló, opposition figure Domingos Simões Pereira—barred from contesting the election by the Supreme Court—was also arrested.
The African Union condemned the coup and demanded the president’s immediate release, while ECOWAS described the events as a “grave violation of Guinea-Bissau’s constitutional order.” The incident adds to a growing list of military takeovers in West Africa, following recent coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea.
