ECOWAS Intervention Falls Apart in a Volatile, High-Drama Duel with Guinea-Bissau Coup Commander
A senior mission from the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, wrapped up its mediation efforts in Guinea-Bissau on Monday without securing any concrete progress, although the delegation vowed to resume negotiations with the coup authorities later this month.
Headed by Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio, the team arrived in Bissau to press for the nation’s swift return to democratic governance after last Wednesday’s military takeover.
The ruling junta—having imposed a ban on demonstrations and industrial action—insists its intervention was necessary to safeguard national security and stabilize the fragile West African state. “We held extremely productive engagements today,” Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister Timothy Musa Kabba stated on behalf of President Bio.
According to Kabba, “The chair of the Authority denounced the military seizure of power and demands the immediate reinstatement of constitutional governance, which requires allowing the electoral process to run its full and legitimate course.”
ECOWAS has strongly rejected the coup and is pushing for the return of President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who escaped to Brazzaville after being briefly detained. In his absence, the military installed former army chief Gen. Horta Inta-a to lead a transitional administration that has already formed a new cabinet, largely made up of figures loyal to the deposed leader.
Foreign Minister João Bernardo Vieira, appointed by the junta, affirmed that ECOWAS will continue to be involved.
“The pathway to restoring constitutional normalcy is sustained cooperation with ECOWAS,” Vieira said on Monday. “A one-year timeframe has been proposed for completing the transition, but this matter will be presented to the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government on December 14. Whatever decision emerges from that meeting will determine our next course of action.”
ECOWAS suspended Guinea-Bissau from all decision-making institutions the day after the coup, pending the reinstatement of civilian rule.
The United Nations has likewise condemned the takeover, with Secretary-General António Guterres calling for the unconditional release of all detained political leaders and reminding the authorities that the popular mandate expressed in the November 23 vote must be honored. The military intervention occurred just as the country awaited the results of the presidential election.
Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has suffered a long history of coups and political upheavals.
Source: Araba Sey
