A group of army officers in Guinea-Bissau announced on Wednesday that they had seized power, plunging the already fragile West African nation into fresh uncertainty just hours before provisional results from a hotly contested presidential election were expected.
Appearing on state television, the officers declared that they had deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, suspended the electoral process, closed all land, air and sea borders and imposed a nationwide curfew “until further notice.”
The group, which identified itself as the “High Military Command for the Restoration of Order,” said it had taken “total control” of the country.
The announcement followed sustained gunfire across the capital, Bissau, where shots were heard near the election commission headquarters, the interior ministry and the presidential palace. Witnesses said the exchange lasted for nearly an hour before falling silent in the early afternoon. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The electoral commission had been due to release provisional results on Thursday from Sunday’s presidential vote, which pitted incumbent Embaló against his leading challenger, Fernando Dias. Both men had prematurely claimed victory, heightening tensions ahead of the announcement.
Embaló was seeking to become the first leader in three decades to win a second consecutive term in a nation long marred by political instability.
Embaló’s spokesperson, Antonio Yaya Seidy, said unidentified gunmen had stormed the election commission to prevent the release of the results, alleging - without providing evidence - that the attackers were linked to Dias.
A representative for Dias did not immediately comment. Former prime minister Domingos Simões Pereira, who backed Dias and contested the 2019 runoff against Embaló, rejected the allegations, saying Dias was meeting election observers when gunfire erupted nearby. He said Dias was safe and remained in Bissau.
Reporting from neighbouring Senegal, Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque said Embaló’s whereabouts were unclear following the military’s announcement, though the presidential palace was heavily guarded by loyal forces. “What we know for sure is that the military is definitely in charge of the country today,” he said.
Guinea-Bissau has endured a long history of coups and attempted coups — at least nine since its independence from Portugal in 1974. Embaló himself has claimed to have survived three plots since taking office in 2020.
Critics have accused him of eroding democratic institutions and using political crises to justify crackdowns, allegations he has denied.
With the military now in power and the election suspended indefinitely, Guinea-Bissau faces yet another period of political turmoil, with no clear roadmap for a return to civilian rule.
