Soldiers patrolled the area surrounding the presidential palace in Bissau on Thursday morning. A few civilians walked along the main road leading to the building, where heavy gunfire had erupted the previous day.
Brigadier General Denis N’Canha, head of the military office of the presidency, held a press conference at the General Staff of the Armed Forces on November 26, 2025.
On Thursday, Guinea-Bissau’s military named a general to lead the country for one year, a day after taking power, detaining the president, and interrupting the release of election results.
President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who was also a candidate in the election, had cast his vote on November 23, 2025, in Gabu during the presidential and legislative polls.
Following an oath-taking ceremony at military headquarters, General Horta N’Tam, the army’s chief of staff, announced that he had been sworn in to head the High Command. According to reporters from AFP, dozens of heavily armed soldiers were present at the event. N’Tam said the military’s actions were meant to stop operations that he claimed threatened the country’s democracy.
On Wednesday, a group of officers declared they had taken full control of the coup-prone nation and suspended the electoral process as the country awaited results from Sunday’s vote, which Embalo had been predicted to win. Until now, N’Tam had served as the army’s chief of staff and was believed to have been aligned with the president in recent years.
N’Tam said there was enough evidence to justify the takeover, adding that urgent measures were necessary and required the cooperation of all citizens.
Guinea-Bissau, located between Guinea and Senegal, has experienced four coups since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, in addition to several failed attempts.
On Wednesday afternoon, General Denis N’Canha said the military was taking control of the country until further notice. He claimed that authorities had uncovered a plot involving drug traffickers that included bringing weapons into the country to undermine the constitutional order. He added that the military had halted the entire electoral process, suspended all media broadcasts, and imposed a mandatory curfew.
All borders—land, air, and sea—were closed on Wednesday but were reopened Thursday, according to General Lassana Mansali.
Embalo was arrested on Wednesday and is being held at military headquarters, where he is reportedly being treated well, according to a military source. A senior officer also confirmed that the chief of staff and the interior minister had been detained. Opposition leader Domingos Simoes Pereira, who was barred from the election by the Supreme Court, was also arrested on Wednesday, according to two people close to him.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) issued a statement on Thursday strongly condemning the coup and reaffirming its zero-tolerance policy toward unconstitutional changes of government.
Guinea-Bissau is one of the poorest countries in the world and serves as a transit point for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a trade enabled by its history of political instability.
Political stability was a central concern in the recent election due to the nation’s turbulent past. In October, the army said it had prevented an attempt to undermine the constitutional order and had arrested several senior officers.
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was monitoring the situation with deep concern. Portugal, the country’s former colonial ruler, urged all parties to avoid any form of institutional or civic violence.
Sadibou Marong of Reporters Without Borders said that suspending media broadcasts represented a serious violation of the public’s right to information, stressing the importance of allowing citizens to stay informed during a political crisis.
In recent years, several West African countries—including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Guinea—have also experienced coups that removed their governments from power.
