Guinea-Bissau’s military has appointed army chief of staff, General Horta N’Tam as transitional president.
General N’Tam, took the oath of office during a ceremony at military headquarters on Thursday.
“I have just been sworn in to lead the High Command,” he declared.
The development comes a day after a group of military officers seized power, arrested President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, and haltes the release of last weekend’s election results.
A senior officer revealed that “the chief of staff and the minister of the interior” had also been detained.
Opposition leader Domingos Simões Pereira, who was barred from last weekend’s presidential election by the Supreme Court, was also arrested on Wednesday, according to two sources close to him.
Meanwhile, the chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) “unequivocally condemns the coup d’état,” the regional bloc said in a statement on Thursday, reiterating its “strict zero-tolerance for unconstitutional changes of government.”
