ECOWAS rejects Guinea-Bissau’s military transition plan, threatens targeted sanctions

The West African bloc ECOWAS on Sunday rejected a transition programme announced by Guinea-Bissau’s military rulers.

The bloc is demanding a swift return to constitutional order and warning of targeted sanctions against those obstructing the process, Reuters reported.

Army officers in Guinea-Bissau, calling themselves the Military High Command, overthrew President Umaro Sissoco Embalo on November 26 and installed Major-General Horta Inta-a as interim president the following day.

The coup marks the ninth in West and Central Africa in five years, intensifying concerns over democratic backsliding in a region already facing political instability and insecurity.

At the ECOWAS annual summit in Abuja, Nigeria, bloc leaders called for the immediate release of all political detainees, including opposition figures, and insisted on an inclusive, short transition process in Guinea-Bissau.

ECOWAS Commission President Omar Touray stated that the bloc would maintain zero tolerance for unconstitutional changes of government.

The bloc noted that elections held on November 23 had been deemed free and transparent by ECOWAS observers, the African Union, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.

ECOWAS also tasked its chair with leading a high-level delegation to Guinea-Bissau to engage the junta.

The bloc warned that failure to comply with its demands would trigger targeted sanctions against individuals or groups obstructing the transition and called on the African Union and international partners to support its efforts.