The Economic Community of West Africa, ECOWAS, Tuesday, condemned an ‘attempted coup’ in Guinea-Bissau after heavy gunfire was heard near Government palace.
Heavily-armed men surrounded the Palace of Government, where President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam were believed to have attended a cabinet meeting.
“ECOWAS is following with great concern the evolution of the situation in Guinea-Bissau… where military gunfire is taking place around the Government Palace,” the organisation said.
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The African Union issued a similar statement, adding that some government members were being detained and calling on the military to release them. It gave no details.
Political instability has blighted Guinea-Bissau for decades, with nine coups or attempted coups since independence from Portugal in 1974.
The Portuguese Embassy urged its citizens in Guinea-Bissau to stay at home.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned” by the reports from Guinea-Bissau, a spokesman said. A security source with contacts inside the Government Palace said an unknown number of people had been hit by gunfire. A second source said two people were dead, but it was unclear who they were.
Attempted coup
Earlier, sustained gunfire was heard near the seat of government in the coup-prone West African state of Guinea-Bissau, AFP reporters said.
People were seen fleeing the area, the local markets were closed and banks shut their doors, while military vehicles laden with troops drove through the streets.
The former Portuguese colony is an impoverished coastal state of around two million people lying south of Senegal.
It has seen four military putsches since gaining independence in 1974, most recently in 2012.
In 2014, the country vowed to return to constitutional government, but it has enjoyed little stability since then and the armed forces wield substantial clout.
Election Turmoil
Embalo, a 49-year-old reserve brigadier general and former prime minister, took office in February 2020 after winning a second-round runoff election that followed four years of political infighting under the country’s semi-presidential system.
He was a candidate for a party called Madem, comprised rebels from the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) which had led Guinea-Bissau to independence.
His chief opponent, PAIGC candidate Domingos Simoes Pereira, bitterly contested the result but Embalo declared himself president without waiting for the outcome of his petition to the Supreme Court.
Late last year, the armed forces’ chief said members of the military had been preparing to launch a coup while the president was on a working trip to Brazil.
Troops had been offering bribes to other soldiers “in order to subvert the established constitutional order”, armed forces head General Biague Na Ntam said on October 14.
The government spokesman denied his account the following day.
In addition, Guinea-Bissau struggles with a reputation for corruption and drug smuggling.
Its porous coastline and cultural ties have made it an important stop on the Africa trafficking route. In 2019, nearly two tonnes of cocaine were seized.
Three countries in West Africa — Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso — have experienced military takeovers in less than 18 months.
The region’s mounting instability is due to be discussed on Thursday at an ECOWAS summit in Accra, Ghana.
