Guinea-Bissau bishops plea for democracy after coup

Bishop José Lampra Cá and Bishop Víctor Luís Quematcha asked politicians and the military to ‘leave aside personal interests’ and assume the ‘historic responsibilities of the moment’.

Church leaders in Guinea-Bissau voiced alarm after the government fell to a military coup which some suggested had been faked.

Army officers seized power on 26 November, one day before the announcement of the results of the presidential election held on 23 November. According to members of the opposition, candidate Fernando Dias da Costa was set to defeat the incumbent Umaro Sissoco Embaló.

Troops surrounded the buildings of the National Electoral Commission and the Presidency in Bissau and gun shots were heard for a few minutes. They detained officials of the electoral authority, as well as politicians including Dias da Costa. President Embaló was allegedly arrested as well, but he then claimed to be in Senegal, and then in Congo-Brazzaville.

The military released a statement on 27 November declaring that the electoral process cancelled and the president ousted.

Political analysts described events as a “self-coup”. The military is closely allied to Embaló, who has been accused in the past of attempting to establish a dictatorial regime. He closed Congress for a period of almost two years after an attempted coup in 2023.

The Church have clashed with Embaló repeatedly since he took power in 2020. In 2022, the leader accused Bishop José Lampra Cá of Bissau of “meddling” in politics, after he met a prime minister whom Embaló considered an opponent.

Bishop Lampra Cá and Bishop Víctor Luís Quematcha of Bafatá released a statement on 27 November asking politicians and the military to “leave aside personal or group interests” and assume the “historic responsibilities of the moment”.

“We want to ask the political and military classes to have love for our motherland, spirit of sacrifice and respect for the democratic norms,” they said.

Fr Augusto Tamba, an official in the Diocese of Bafatá, said it was important to emphasise “that the elections occurred in adequate fashion, observers and nongovernmental organisations monitored them and the outcome was about to be released”.

“The Church sees it with great concern and laments that surprising coup. We demand the re-establishment of normality and respect for the Constitution. The armed forces must put down the guns and seek dialogue,” he told The Tablet.

Tamba said that Catholics have demanded the immediate release of the political prisoners and rejected any kind of violence and institutional break.

“Guinea-Bissau deserves stability and democracy. The voters’ decision must be respected,” he said.

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