By Enyichukwu Enemanna
An Army General was on Thursday sworn-in as Guinea-Bissau’s new head of state a day after an apparent coup.
Gen. Horta N’Tam becomes the transitional President for a period of one year. He took oath in a brief proceedings at army headquarters.
N’Tam, who until a day earlier had been head of the presidential guard, barely cracked a smile during his swearing-in while he was flanked by officers.
Some civil society groups in Guinea-Bissau have accused outgoing President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of masterminding a “simulated coup” against himself with the help of the military, saying it was a ruse to block election results from coming out in case he lost.
“This manoeuvre aims to prevent the publication of the electoral results scheduled for tomorrow, November 27,” the civil society coalition Popular Front said in a statement on Wednesday.
His closest election rival Fernando Dias has also echoed these claims but Embaló has not responded to the allegations.
He has said he has survived multiple coup attempts during his time in office. However, his critics have previously accused him of fabricating crises in order to launch crackdown on opposition and civil society groups with dissenting voices.
The military has already suspended the electoral process and blocked the release of the results of Sunday’s presidential ans parliamentary elections which were expected on Thursday.
According to AFP, unnamed military source said Embaló is being held by the army at its staff headquarters, where he is being “well-treated”.
In response to news of the apparent coup, the chair of the African Union (AU) Mahmoud Ali Youssouf demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of President Embalo and all detained officials”.
He also reminded Guinea-Bissau’s leaders of “the imperative of respecting the ongoing electoral process”.
Guinea-Bissau has witnessed at least nine coups or attempted coups over the last five decades.
President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has not commented on claims he helped to stage the coup against him.
The latest of these, on Wednesday, saw a group of military officers announce they had seized control of the country. Earlier, government sources told the BBC that Embaló had been arrested.
Gunshots were heard in the capital, Bissau, but it was not immediately clear who was involved in the shooting or if there were any casualties.
The officers then appeared on state TV, saying they had suspended the electoral process.
They said they were acting to thwart a plot by unnamed politicians who had “the support of a well-known drug baron” to destabilise the country, announcing the closure of its borders and imposed a night-time curfew.
Meanwhile, regional and sub-regional bodies have condemned the military takeover in the two+million population country.
The ECOWAS, AU Missions and West African Elders Forum have all denounced the coup, calling for immediate restoration of democratic order.
