ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The military authorities in Guinea-Bissau on Thursday announced that they have appointed a new head of state, following what appears to be a power takeover days after the country’s presidential election.
According to state broadcaster TGB, General Horta Inta-A has been selected to serve as transitional president for a one-year period.
Details about who truly controls the government remain uncertain, and the exact circumstances of the reported coup are still unclear.
The development comes just days after the presidential polls.
Eyewitnesses told dpa that the streets of Bissau, the capital, were largely empty, with soldiers stationed at strategic points across the city.
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A day earlier, a group of officers declared that they had assumed control of the West African nation of about 2.2 million people.
They claimed that the military had uncovered a plot to manipulate the election results and destabilise the country, allegedly involving politicians and a known drug trafficker.
Guinea-Bissau has long been a significant transit point for cocaine smuggling between Latin America and Europe.
Ousted President Umaro Sissoco Embaló reportedly told a French media outlet that he had been detained by the military, although he said he had not been harmed.
Military officers are also said to have taken into custody Embaló’s rival, Fernando Dias.
Both Embaló and Dias had previously declared themselves winners of Sunday’s presidential election, whose official results have not yet been released.
Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced multiple coups and attempted coups.
The military has remained deeply enmeshed in political affairs over the decades.
Embaló, a former general who has been in office since 2020, dissolved the country’s parliament at the end of 2023.
He has repeatedly spoken about attempts to overthrow him, most recently in October.