Military Appoints New Leader In Guinea-Bissau After Arresting President

Guinea-Bissau’s military has appointed the army chief of staff, General Horta N’Tam, to lead the country for one year.

Naija News reports that this comes after soldiers took control of the government, arrested the president, and stopped the release of election results.

The takeover followed a tense day marked by heavy gunfire around the presidential palace in Bissau.

By Friday morning, soldiers were still patrolling the area while a few residents cautiously moved along the main road leading to the building.

N’Tam was sworn in at the military headquarters, where he announced that he would head the High Command.

Armed troops surrounded the venue as he said the operation was carried out to stop plans that the army believed could put the country at risk.

The military had earlier said it had taken full control of the state and halted the electoral process.

The nation had been waiting for the results of last Sunday’s vote, which many expected President Umaro Sissoco Embaló to win.

N’Tam, a long-serving military officer, is known to have had close ties to Embaló in recent years.

On Wednesday, General Denis N’Canha, who leads the presidential military office, said the army acted after uncovering a plot linked to drug networks.

He said the plan involved bringing weapons into the country to alter the constitutional order.

Following this claim, the military stopped all media broadcasts, suspended the election process, and imposed a curfew.

Borders were initially shut after the takeover, but General Lassana Mansali later announced that they had been reopened.

Embaló was detained and kept at the military headquarters, with officials saying he was being treated well.

Senior security officials, including the interior minister and the chief of staff, were also detained.

Opposition figure Domingos Simões Pereira, who had been barred from contesting the election by the Supreme Court, was also taken into custody.