ECOWAS delegation visits Guinea-Bissau for talks after military coup

As regional pressure mounts against the military leaders who seized power following a contentious election, a delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) travels to Guinea-Bissau for mediation talks with coup leaders from last week.

The mission, led by Julius Maada Bio, president of Sierra Leone and ECOWAS chairman, visited Guinea-Bissau on Monday to demand a “complete restoration of constitutional order.”

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The country’s military has imposed stricter restrictions, putting an end to all strikes and demonstrations.

Sierra Leone’s foreign minister, Timothy Musa Kabba, described today as “very fruitful discussions.” “Both sides have voiced their distinct concerns.”

Guinea-Bissau’s newly appointed foreign minister, Joao Bernardo Vieira, stated that it was “very clearly established” that ECOWAS would remain in the country “durant this challenging period.”

He declared that “their discussions will continue with the military and the transitional authorities.”

Three days after the country’s intensely contested presidential election, both main contenders, opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa and incumbent president Umaro Sissoco Embalo, claimed victory before the results were scheduled to be announced. Since then, no conclusions have been made.

Embalo claimed that he had been deposed and detained while he was in charge of the takeover. Since then, he has fled to Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo’s capital.

General Horta Inta-A, a former army chief of staff, was chosen to lead a one-year transitional government, according to military officials in Guinea-Bissau. A new 28-member cabinet, made up primarily of people connected to the ousted president, was appointed by Inta-a on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Nigeria claimed that Dias da Costa, the leader of the opposition, was in imminent danger of his life.

Dias da Costa is currently at the Nigerian embassy in Bissau, according to a letter that the country’s minister of foreign affairs sent to ECOWAS. In order to protect the opposition candidate, the letter demanded a deployment of ECOWAS troops.

Separately, the main opposition group, the African Independence Party for Guinea and the Cape Verde (PAIGC), claimed that its capital’s headquarters had been “illegally invaded by heavily armed militia groups” in a statement.

In response to civil rights organizations’ criticism of the party’s decision as part of a wider crackdown on dissent, the party was prohibited from running for president on November 23.

Guinea-Bissau was suspended from all of its decision-making bodies until the country’s “full and effective constitutional order is restored,” according to ECOWAS, which is widely recognized as West Africa’s top political and regional body with 15 member states.

The number of people being dissented from the international community has increased, with Antonio Guterres, the head of the UN, expressing his concern for the military takeover and praising the country’s continued growing opposition.