Two new security officials assumed their duties at the presidential palace in Guinea-Bissau, Monday, after they were appointed by President Omar Cissoko Embalo, who alluded during their swearing-in ceremony to coups in other countries in Africa.
These security appointments came to strengthen the president’s protection team, shortly after two coups took place in Niger and Gabon, carried out by security officials in the government.
On Friday, Empalo issued a decree appointing General Thomas Djasi as head of presidential security, and General Horta Inta as head of the office of the president.
Both positions have long existed in the government’s organizational structure, but have not been filled for decades.
Jassy and Inta took the constitutional oath, Monday, during a ceremony held at the presidential palace, according to “Agence France Presse”.
On Monday, the president told reporters, “It is true that coups carried out by presidential security officers have become commonplace,” adding that “any suspicious move will be met with an appropriate response.”
Prior to his new appointment, Jassi was head of the National Guard, the elite army unit whose intervention helped stop the 2022 coup attempt, and Inta was head of the central police department in Bissau.
And last August, Embalo warned that the Nigerien coup represents an existential threat to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), considering the ousted Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum the only legitimate leader of the country.
Guinea-Bissau has witnessed 4 military coups since its independence in 1974, the last of which was in 2012, and an attempt was made to overthrow Empalo in February 2022.
#wave #coups. #President #GuineaBissau #fortifies #threatens
2023-09-04 23:05:38
