Guinea-Bissau’s deposed president Umaro Sissoco Embaló has fled to Senegal after being removed from office in a military coup earlier this week.
Senegal’s foreign ministry confirmed on Thursday night that Embaló arrived in Dakar “safe and sound” on a chartered military aircraft. His transfer followed negotiations led by the West African bloc Ecowas as pressure mounted over the political crisis in his country.
A new transitional leader, Gen Horta N’Tam, has already been sworn in by the military to head an interim government for one year. Guinea-Bissau has experienced repeated instability, and Embaló’s removal marks yet another shift in power since the country gained independence.
The coup happened just one day before officials were expected to release provisional results from the presidential and parliamentary elections. The military suspended the electoral process and stopped the publication of the results, saying it acted to prevent what it described as a plot by unnamed politicians with the backing of a well-known drug trafficker.
A night-time curfew has been introduced as tensions continue to rise.
Embaló, a former army general, was elected president in 2020. It remains unclear when he plans to return or how Ecowas will respond to the latest disruption in the region’s democratic landscape.