Guinea-Bissau’s deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has arrived in neighbouring Senegal following his release by the military forces who toppled his government this week, Senegal’s authorities have announced.It 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 had landed in the country “safe and sound” on a chartered military flight late on Thursday.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. Wednesday’s coup came a day before authorities were due to announce the provisional results of a presidential and parliamentary election.The military has suspended the electoral process and blocked the release of the results.It said it was acting to thwart a plot by unnamed politicianswho had “the support of a well-known drug baron” to destabilise the country, and imposed a night-time curfew.Sandwiched between Senegal and Guinea, the coup-prone country is known as a drug-trafficking hub where the military has been influential since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974.A mother of three told the BBC it was not the first military takeover she had lived through, nonetheless it had came as a surprise as people were expecting to hear about the outcome of the election, which had an estimated voter turnout of more than 65%.”We heard gunfire. We ran away.
We tried to pack our bags to go home,” she said.Another resident of the capital, Bissau, said he was unhappy about the situation.”This doesn’t help anyone. Because it puts the country into chaos,” Mohamed Sylla told the BBC.But reactions have been mixed, with some residents praising the army and hoping for an orderly transition.”I am not against the military regime as long as they improve the living conditions in the country,” Suncar Gassama told the BBC.”Guinea-Bissau is a very rich country where all the conditions exist for a good life. I cannot understand why Guineans always have violence in their minds and are shooting everywhere.
People must fight for the establishment of democracy.”Both Embaló and his closest rival Fernando Dias had claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential poll. Political analyst Ryan Cummings said the president’s previous actions had fuelled suspicions that the coup attempt was orchestrated to pave the way for his return to power under military oversight.However, he told the BBC it was also “highly plausible” that the armed forces had acted independently to prevent a deeper political stalemate.It was Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio, the current Ecowas chair, who had contacted the Guinea-Bissau military on Wednesday to secure assurance for Embaló’s protection, according to Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister Timothy Musa Kabba.When asked about Embaló physical health on the BBC’s Newsday programme on Friday, the minister declined to comment but said the priority was ensuring his safe evacuation from Guinea-Bissau.Ecowas leaders have suspended Guinea-Bissau from all decision-making bodies until constitutional order is restored. In a statement, the bloc ordered the military to return to the barracks, calling its actions a “grave violation of Guinea-Bissau’s constitutional order”.The African Union has also condemned the coup.UN 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.Additional reporting by Wycliffe Muia, Yemisi Adegoke and Natasha Booty
