The West African country will hold legislative and presidential elections on December 6.
Posted on January 22, 2026
Guinea-Bissau’s military government has set a date for new elections following the overthrow of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo in a coup late last year, according to a statement by the army leader.
“All conditions have been met to organize free, fair and transparent elections,” states a decree read on Wednesday by Major General Horta Inta-a.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Legislative and presidential elections will be held on December 6, the statement added.
A coup in November ousted Embalo and appointed former army chief of staff Inta-a as head of the military government, tasked with overseeing a one-year transition period.
A transition letter published in early December prohibits Inta-a, a close associate of Embalo, from standing in the elections.
The military claimed it had seized power when Embalo was seeking a second term in a presidential election to “avoid a bloodbath among supporters of rival candidates.”
Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been dogged by coups and coup attempts since its independence from Portugal more than 50 years ago, including an attempted coup last October.
The country of 2.2 million people is known as a hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a trend that experts say has fueled its political crises.
The announcement of the elections comes weeks after a visit to Guinea-Bissau by a mission from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by the president of Sierra Leone and president of ECOWAS, Julius Maada Bio, and his Senegalese counterpart, Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
The two leaders held talks with military leaders and called for a short, structured and transparent transition.
They have also demanded the release of political opponents, including opposition leader Domingos Simoes Pereira, who were jailed on the day of the coup.
West Africa has experienced a wave of coups since 2020, usually with the stated purpose of protecting the country against insurgencies or correcting poor governance.
Military leaders in neighboring Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso also seized power by force, promising to provide more security for citizens against extremist armed groups. In neighboring Guinea, General Mamady Doumbouya overthrew the president in 2021 with a promise to rid the country of corruption.
