A group of military officers had claimed “full control” of the country, a day after two leading candidates in a close presidential election declared victory.
Published on November 27, 2025
Guinea-Bissau's military named a general as the country's new leader for a year, a day after staging a coup to seize power and arrest the West African nation's president as contentious election results were imminent.
“I have just taken the oath to lead the High Command,” declared General Horta Nta Na Man after taking the oath in a ceremony held at army headquarters, AFP journalists observed.
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Dozens of heavily armed soldiers were deployed to the scene.
On Wednesday, a day after two leading candidates in a close presidential election declared victory, a group of military officers claimed “full control” of the country.
The officers, calling themselves the “Military High Command for the Restoration of Order,” read a statement on television in which they declared that they had ordered the immediate suspension of the electoral process “until further notice.”
President Umaro Sissoco Embalo was overthrown in the latest episode of unrest in the coup country.
Provisional results were expected to be announced in the race between Embalo and Fernando Días, a political newcomer who had emerged as the current president's main rival to govern the country, which is a hub for cocaine trafficking.
The capital, Bissau, was largely quiet on Thursday, with soldiers patrolling the streets and many residents staying indoors even after a nightly curfew was lifted. Businesses and banks were closed.
The military had also ordered the closure of all land, air and sea borders.
The announcement of the inauguration came shortly after sustained gunfire was heard near the electoral commission headquarters, the presidential palace and the Interior Ministry in the capital, Bissau, on Wednesday.
“I have been dismissed,” Embalo told French broadcaster France24 in a phone call on Wednesday, adding that he was “currently at the General Staff headquarters.”
That afternoon, Al Jazeera's Nicolas Haque reported from neighboring Senegal that Embalo was under arrest.
The leader of the main opposition PAIGC party, Domingos Simoes Pereira, has also been arrested, Haque said. “Also, we just found out that the military is trying to shut down the Internet. There's a curfew.”
He added that the army officer who led the coup, Denis N'Canha, was serving as head of the presidential guard. “The man who is supposed to protect the president himself has arrested him,” Haque said.
Meanwhile, observers from ECOWAS and the West African African Union expressed concern over the military takeover in Guinea-Bissau, according to a joint statement issued by the organizations.
“It is unfortunate that this [coup] The announcement came at a time when the missions had just concluded a meeting with the two main presidential candidates, who assured us of their willingness to accept the will of the people,” observers said on Wednesday.
