Guinea-Bissau’s ruling junta announced Thursday that “security conditions” were not in place for the return of exiled former president Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who has been living in Morocco since the army seized power last November.
The decision came days after Embalo told AFP he would come home and run in a presidential election scheduled for 6th December. His supporters had planned a brief visit yesterday, to let him meet his camp before the vote.
The military high command rejected that plan in a statement issued after a meeting on the matter. It “determined that at this time the necessary security conditions are not met to guarantee the return to national territory,” adding that the decision followed “an analysis of the national situation and the current security environment.”
The junta framed the move strictly around public order. The measure was “based exclusively on grounds of national security, the preservation of public order, and the prevention of situations likely to compromise social stability and tranquillity,” according to the High Military Command for the Restoration of National Security and Public Order.
The ruling body reiterated that restrictions on demonstrations, gatherings, and political meetings, imposed when it took power, remained in force.
The announcement marked a reversal from earlier remarks by General Horta N’Tam, the transitional president and head of the junta. Asked about Embalo last week, N’Tam told a radio journalist that “every Guinean is free to return to their country if they have nothing to be ashamed of”.
The former president, who ruled between 2020 and 2025, was overthrown on November 26, one day before provisional results of the presidential and legislative vote were to be announced.