On 12 April 2012, a coup d'état in Guinea-Bissau was staged by elements of the armed forces about two weeks before the second round of a presidential election between Carlos Gomes Júnior and Kumba Ialá. The coup started in the evening with military personnel and equipment making its way onto the streets, followed by the state-owned media being taken off-air.
Both second-round candidates and the incumbent president were initially arrested by the junta. Members of the Military Council, which ran the country until an interim National Transitional Council was established on 15 April, said that one of the reasons for the coup was the incumbent civilian administration's call for Angolan help to reform the military. Following international condemnation and sanctions against leaders of the junta, an agreement was signed that led to the third place candidate in the election, Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo, being selected as interim president. The presidential election was aborted and postponed for at least two years into the future. An interim government was tasked with administering Guinea-Bissau in the meantime.
Background
The media and international think-tanks have highlighted the country's instability and labelled it a narcostate. The country has frequently featured military involvement in civil administration since independence from Portugal in 1974. As such, the events leading up to the 2012 coup include military unrest in 2010 and a failed coup attempt in 2011. The latter followed infighting between the country's Navy and the Army. Guinea-Bissau's instability is also exacerbated as a transit point for drug shipments from Latin America to Europe and allegations exist that government ministers and military personnel are bribed to keep silent.
Following the death of President Malam Bacai Sanhá on 9 January 2012, a new election was scheduled to be held within 90 days in accordance with the constitution. Despite a peaceful campaign, there were external fears of possible violence or a coup d'état if the army did not approve of the winner. In this regard, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for a "peaceful, orderly and transparent" election. Just before the attack, presidential candidate Kumba Ialá, who claimed to have ties with members of his Balanta ethnic group, who are the largest ethnicity in the military, warned of "consequences" if there was campaigning for the second round of the election due to his allegations of fraud in the first round that were unanswered. The first round result was rejected by five of the nine candidates. Campaigning was due to start on 13 April for the second round, until its disruption as a result of the coup d'état.
Days before the coup, fellow Lusophone country Angola announced its forces would be ending the two-year-old Angolan Military Mission in Guinea Bissau (MISSANG) that followed a similar failed effort by the European Union as part of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS). State-owned Angolan news agency ANGOP said that the Angolan troops were sent to Guinea-Bissau in March 2011 in accordance with a bilateral military agreement to reform the armed forces. On 16 April, Guinea-Bissau Defense Minister Jorge Tolentino Araújo was scheduled to arrive in Angola to meet his counterpart Cândido Pereira dos Santos Van-Dúnem and the Army Chief-of-Staff Geraldo Sachipengo Nunda. He was also expected to visit the Higher Warfare School (ESG) and the Higher Technical Military Institute (ISTM). The same day as the coup, the two Lusophone countries of Angola and Cape Verde agreed to review their defense cooperation agreements. Presidential candidate and former Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Júnior was also unpopular with the army for his attempts to reform the institution.
Rationale
According to Portugal's SIC Notícias, a day before the coup an unidentified military commander claimed Gomes Júnior would allow Angolan troops into the country. He also claimed that soldiers possessed a "secret document" that allowed the Guinea-Bissau government to sanction an Angolan attack on Guinea-Bissau's military. The leaders of the junta released an unsigned communique that read they "did not have ambitions of power" and that the coup was a reaction to the alleged agreement with Angola because the 200 military trainers would "annihilate Guinea-Bissau's armed forces." The spokesman for the junta that took over after the coup, Lieutenant-Colonel Daha Bana na Walna later said that Gomes Júnior and Pereira were ousted because of "unease" in the armed forces over the election, a sentiment echoed by diplomats. Gomes Junior was also viewed as the "candidate of Angola" in the election, according to Chatham House's Africa director Alex Vines. He also said that the months leading up to the events featured media commentary and hostility towards Angola.
Coup d'etat
On 12 April, gunfire was heard between 19:00 and 21:00, as mutinous troops attempted to overthrow the government by seizing control of the centre of the capital Bissau. Initial reports by diplomats in the country said presidential candidate Carlos Gomes Júnior and interim President Raimundo Pereira were missing. The mutineers seized control of the offices of the incumbent African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) and radio stations. They also fought police officers loyal to the government, forcing them to retreat after coming under fire from RPGs. The soldiers blocked the roads into and out of the capital city and the national radio and television was taken off-air at 20:00.
The perpetrators of the coup targeted Gomes Júnior's residence, which was attacked by grenades and surrounded by troops, as gunfire was heard nearby. Journalists were also prevented from approaching the scene. Camilo Lima da Costa, the son of the head of the national election commission Desejado Lima da Costa, told RDP África, one of the radio stations still broadcasting, that the soldiers had looted his father's house but that both his parents were safe. Soldiers ransacked and looted other houses they raided as well. Soldiers also sealed off the embassies to prevent members of the government from fleeing and hiding with foreign diplomats. Several unnamed politicians were arrested during the night by the army.
Peter Thompson, the head of the U.K. Electoral Observation Mission in the country for the election, described the situation on the night of the coup as "a very large presence of the military in the streets. It did seem quite coordinated last night in terms of how the roads were shut off...Today the streets are very calm, the city is much quieter than it normally would be. People are staying home. I do know that the army has taken control of the state media and state television, and they haven't released anything official." There was speculation on Senegal's RFM radio by reporter Noah Mankali that Gomes Júnior had been assassinated by the army during the night by soldiers from the same Balanta ethnic group as Ialá Embaló.
An unnamed number of government ministers, as well as the Director General of the Judicial Police João Biague, were in hiding. Interior Minister Fernando Gomes, who may have been in the custody of the mutinous soldiers, said he "feared for his life." On 14 April, Lusa journalist Antonio Aly Silva told the outlet that he had been arrested for a short while, but was later released at the same time as singer Dulce Neves and many of Gomes Junior's bodyguards. Senegal closed its land border with Guinea-Bissau on 13 April.
People began to venture out of their homes at dawn and there appeared to be little to no presence of soldiers on the streets and no messages over radio or television from either the government or the coup leaders. There was an "unusual" quiet in Bissau, although photographs showed a big hole in Gomes Júnior's residence as a result of the attack. Soldiers were seen standing guard outside radio and television stations, including the state-run television office, and the presidential offices in Bissau. An overnight curfew was imposed the following day with orders for the members of the civilian government to turn themselves over to the army. Private radio stations were also shut. On 14 April, some businesses started to reopen but they closed early in accordance with the curfew.
Aftermath and National Unity Government
The coup leaders formed the "Military Command" under the leadership of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces General Mamadu Ture Kuruma. The next day, they put forth conditions for a national unity government after having announced the ouster of Gomes Júnior. Its goals were: the removal of obstacles to reforming the security sector; fighting drug trafficking and consumption; overcoming a culture of impunity; and the continuation of enhancing the democratic process.
Interim President Raimundo Pereira and the Chief-of-Staff of the Armed Forces General Antonio Indjai were "under the control of the army," however there were rumours circulating that Indjai could be hiding and that soldiers were going to every embassy looking for him. Indjai's spokesman Daba Naualna said that Periera and Gomes Júnior were "well and alive" and added that "the [army chief-of-staff] thinks, for the sake of the country, that power cannot fall into the streets and decided to have [the military] play its part in seeking solutions with the political class to resolve this crisis." The Military Command later announced that they were also holding Ialá Embaló. The detained officials were later released. The UN later reported that the head of the Supreme Court and the Election Commission were also in hiding, along with three unnamed cabinet ministers.
Senior officers of the army also met the leaders of the political parties and called on them to form the transitional government, but added that the army would control the defence and interior ministries. The meeting was also attended by: Indjai, who was later arrested; the deputy chief-of-staff General Mamadu Ture Kuruma; the heads of the army, air force and navy; the army's spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Daha Bana na Walna and four colonels. However, there was no one from the incumbent PAIGC. Consultations with 23 parliamentary and extra-parliamentary parties discussed issues such as: a transitional government including, an interim president and head of the National Assembly, as well as a PAIGC-nominated prime minister other than the incumbent and a government of national unity inclusive of all parties; and the dissolution of the National Assembly with a government led by the National Transitional Council (NTC) under interim leadership.
The five leading opposition candidates (Mohamed Ialá Embaló, Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo, Henrique Rosa, Baciro Djá, and Vicente Fernandes) announced at a joint news conference that the boycott of the second round of the election would be in the name of "justice." Agnela Regalla of Union for Change, who also attended the meeting, said that "the military chiefs suggested the idea of new presidential and legislative elections." The spokesman for the coalition of opposition parties, Fernando Vaz, said that discussion continued for a third day and that the grouping had invited PAIGC to participate. After the meeting the coalition agreed upon a set of proposals to put forward to the Military Command for a transitional unity government.
There were some small protests supporting Gomes Júnior in downtown Bissau, although, according to Peter Thompson, soldiers arrested several of the protesters and put roadblocks on the streets. PAIGC, commenting on the transitional government, said that it "rejects any anti-constitutional or anti-democratic proposal of a solution to the crisis," while also calling for the release of those detained. Tensions mounted within PAIGC between factions supporting Gomes Júnior and Nhamadjo. On 15 April, a demonstration of about 30 people at the National Assembly, where talks on a transition government were ongoing, was dispersed by soldiers. The National Union of Workers of Guinea-Bissau, which has a membership of about 8,000 mostly civil servants, called for a general strike the next day.
On 16 April, an agreement, which intentionally excluded PAIGC, was reached with 22 of the 35 opposition parties to set up a National Transitional Council. According to Vaz, the size, composition and mandate period would be determined the following day and then discussed with the Military Command. He also said that existing institutions would be dissolved and that two committees would run the country, one would manage foreign affairs and the other would handle social affairs. The former committee was due to meet the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) the following day. The transitional civilian government will rule up to two years before new elections will be held. National Assembly speaker Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo, who had previously rejected the office of interim president in April 2012, was again selected as interim president on 11 May 2012. Sory Djaló was the speaker of the NTC.