Election observers from the African Union, ECOWAS, and West African Elders Forum led by former Presidents Filipe Nyusi, Issifu Kamara, and Goodluck Jonathan blasted Guinea-Bissau’s military for announcing a coup d’état on November 26, just as results from the November 23 presidential and legislative polls were pending. They praised voters’ strong turnout and professional conduct by polling staff, security, and candidates, but decried the army’s seizure of power, arrest of President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, and top officials including the electoral commission head.
The joint statement highlighted irony: the coup followed meetings where leading candidates pledged to respect results, calling it a “blatant attempt to disrupt” democracy in a nation plagued by nine coups since 1974 independence. Observers urged AU and ECOWAS to restore constitutional order, immediate release of detainees, and urged citizens to stay calm amid borders closure, curfew, and suspended polls.
Brig. Gen. Dinis Incanha claimed the takeover countered an election manipulation plot by politicians and drug lords; opposition leader Fernando Dias da Costa escaped arrest and vowed resistance.
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