Guinea-Bissau Power Grab: Army Chief Inta-a Declares Himself Leader After Ousting President

Last Updated:November 28, 2025, 00:19 IST

Major-General Horta Inta-a became transitional president of Guinea-Bissau after a military coup, with Embalo and officials detained, amid ongoing instability

Guinea-Bissau’s military installed Major-General Horta Inta-a as transitional president on Thursday. (Reuters/X)

Major-General Horta Inta-a was sworn in as the transitional president of Guinea-Bissau on Thursday, an army statement said, a day after army officers announced they had deposed the country’s president before the results of a weekend election was announced.

The announcement was made in a televised statement by the self-styled “High Military Command for the Restoration of Order".

Reuters quoted the military as saying that the move came in response to a destabilisation plan involving politicians and drug barons, without going into more detail.

Wearing a military uniform, Inta-a said the transition would last one year. At a later swearing-in ceremony, he named Major-General Tomas Djassi as army chief of staff.

This came a day before provisional results were due to be announced in the race between Embalo and Fernando Dias. On Thursday, the army said in a statement that Embalo and other top officials were “under the control of the High Military Command".

Before Inta-a’s presidency was announced, Dias accused Embalo in a video statement of staging a “false coup attempt" to derail the election because he feared he would lose, Reuters reported.

Condemning the coup, African Union chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf called for the release of Embalo “and all detained officials".

According to Reuters, this was the ninth coup in West and Central Africa in five years and continued a pattern of instability in Guinea-Bissau, a notorious cocaine transport hub with a long history of military interventions in politics.

News world Guinea-Bissau Power Grab: Army Chief Inta-a Declares Himself Leader After Ousting President

Read More