ECOWAS Suspends Guinea-Bissau After Military Coup

By Micheal Chukwuebuka

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has suspended Guinea-Bissau from all its decision-making bodies with immediate effect following a military coup that overthrew President Umaro Sissoco Embaló on Tuesday, 26 November.

In a strongly worded communiqué issued after an emergency virtual summit late Thursday, ECOWAS Heads of State condemned the takeover in the strongest terms and ordered the unconditional restoration of constitutional rule.

ECOWAS praised Guinea-Bissau citizens for their resilience and commitment to democracy during the vote while expressing alarm at the military’s disruption of the electoral process.

The regional bloc rejected any arrangements that perpetuate the illegal abortion of the democratic process and the subversion of the will of the people and demanded that coup leaders
allow the National Electoral Commission to declare the 23 November election results without further delay,

It also directs the immediate and unconditional release of President Embaló and other detained electoral officials and all other political figures.

The Leaders warned that the coup organisers would be held individually and collectively responsible for any harm Provide safe passage for ECOWAS and international election observers.

The extraordinary session of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council, chaired by Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio, was attended by the presidents of Cabo Verde, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire’s Vice-President, and senior ministers from Benin, Gambia, and Togo.

Also present were the presidents of the ECOWAS and African Union Commissions, the head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel, Guinea-Bissau’s Foreign Minister, and the bloc’s special envoy to the country.