Guinea Bissau foils ‘coup attempt’, arrests top military officers

Guinea-Bissau says it has successfully thwarted an alleged coup attempt, barely 24 hours before the start of election campaigns scheduled for Saturday.

In a press conference held in Bissau, the capital city, on Friday, Mamadu Ture, deputy chief of staff, said the “action aimed to disrupt the electoral process”.

Though Ture did not specify the number of military officers arrested, he accused Daba Nawalna, a brigadier-general and director of a military training centre, of being the mastermind of the alleged plot.

Nawalna and his alleged co-conspirators have been detained following a coordinated overnight operation by the army and state security services.

Guinea-Bissau’s presidential election is scheduled for November 23, with incumbent President Umaro Embaló expected to win following the disqualification of the main opposition.

However, the Portuguese-speaking West African nation has been embroiled in deep political instability long before recent events.

The election had been scheduled for November 2024, but Embaló postponed the exercise, citing political instability, logistical challenges and disputes over presidential term limits.

Embaló’s term of office has come under scrutiny after opposition and judicial authorities argued that he ought to have vacated office in February 2025.

But the president has insisted that his official term began in November 2020 – when legal challenges to his election were resolved.

Guinea-Bissau has experienced a tumultuous history of coups since its independence in 1974.

It has since stabilised since its 2014 presidential election, but constant power struggles, alleged coup attempts, and institutional disputes threaten the country’s fragile democratic gains.