Guinea-Bissau’s ousted President Umaro Sissoco Embaló has arrived safely in Senegal after being released by the military officers who removed him from power earlier this week, according to a statement from Senegalese authorities.
His transfer followed intense negotiations led by the West African regional bloc, Ecowas, as political tensions continued to rise in Guinea-Bissau.
Senegal’s foreign ministry confirmed that Embaló landed “safe and sound” late Thursday aboard a chartered military aircraft.
Meanwhile, Guinea-Bissau’s military has sworn in a transitional leader, Gen Horta N’Tam, who is expected to oversee the country for the next year.
The coup occurred just one day before officials were scheduled to release provisional presidential and parliamentary election results.
The army has now suspended the electoral process and withheld the results, claiming it acted to prevent a conspiracy by unnamed politicians allegedly backed by “a well-known drug baron.” A night-time curfew has also been imposed.
Before the coup, both Embaló and his main challenger, Fernando Dias, had declared victory in Sunday’s election. Dias was backed by former Prime Minister Domingos Pereira, who had been barred from contesting.
Government sources earlier told the BBC that Dias, Pereira, and Interior Minister Botché Candé were also detained.
The junta has banned all public demonstrations and prohibited “all disturbing actions of peace and stability in the country.”
Tensions remained high in the capital, Bissau, on Thursday, with shops and markets shut and soldiers stationed across the city, AFP reported.
Gen N’Tam, previously serving as the army’s chief of staff, was announced as the transitional president for one year. In his address, he said the military intervened “to block operations that aimed to threaten our democracy.”
Shortly after he was sworn in, the military reopened land, air, and sea borders that had been sealed when the coup was declared.
Some civil society groups in Guinea-Bissau have accused Embaló of orchestrating a “simulated coup” with military support to prevent the release of election results if they showed he lost. Dias echoed this claim, describing the event as an “organised coup.”
Dias has insisted he is the rightful president-elect, estimating that he secured around 52% of the vote. Embaló has not responded to these accusations.
The 53-year-old leader has previously said he survived several coup attempts. Critics, however, have often accused him of creating political crises to suppress opposition.
Ecowas has suspended Guinea-Bissau from all its decision-making bodies until constitutional governance is restored, calling the military takeover a “grave violation of Guinea-Bissau’s constitutional order.”
The African Union has also condemned the coup, urging respect for democratic structures.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” and called for the “immediate and unconditional restoration of constitutional order.”
Guinea-Bissau has experienced at least nine coups or attempted coups over the past five decades.
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