The President of Guinea fired the head of the army and appointed a private commander

The President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoko Embalo, dismissed this Friday the chief of staff of the army, Lassane Massali, and appointed Horta Inta-a to the position elected less than a month ago by the rank-and-file chief, major, according to presidential decrees. .

Three presidential decrees released today found that Major General Steve Lassana Massali was removed from his position as Army Chief of Staff and appointed Inspector General of the Armed Forces, a position from which Rear Admiral Estevan Namena was removed.

The position of Chief of Army Staff is currently occupied by Orta Inta-a, who was appointed to this position on September 1, a day after the government dismissed him as commander of the National Guard, the head of state – a private request from the President.

This was the first appointment of a private chief of staff to the President of Guinea-Bissau, although the position also exists in French-speaking African countries.

The President of the Republic does not say whether this position will be filled again, and also does not specify the reasons for the changes defined today in presidential decrees.

According to several sources contacted by Lusa, General Lassana Massali, now dismissed as army chief of staff, attended the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Guinea-Bissau’s independence in Lugajola, which was not approved by the president of the republic.

The event, held in the Boe Hills where Guinea-Bissau’s independence was declared 50 years ago, was organized by the National People’s Assembly (APN).

According to the same sources, the general was introduced at this ceremony by PNP President Domingos Simões Pereira as a representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

The celebration of the 50th anniversary of independence has rocked Guinea’s political life in recent days, sparking a confrontation between the President of the Republic, Oumaro Sissoko Embalo, and the President of the People’s National Assembly and PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea). Guinea and Cape Green), Domingos Simões Pereira.

The President of the Republic regarded the celebration organized by the Assembly as a manifestation of the party, referring to the PAIGC, which leads the coalition in the PAI-Terra Ranca government.

Sissoko Embalo also announced the date of the next presidential election in two years, November 24, 2025, and said he would run again, projecting himself as the winner in the first round.

Domingos Simões Pereira considered the statements of the head of state “inappropriate.”

“The reference by the President of the Republic that this was a manifestation of a political party and maneuvers with the aim of deceiving the people was inadequate and unacceptable, as were the subsequent considerations regarding the date of the elections and the fact that there is already an early winner in the first round, this poorly presented information that the National People’s Assembly does not accept,” he said.

The parliamentary group of the Movement for Democratic Change, the party of the President of the Republic Madem-G15, called a press conference at which it declared that the President of the National People’s Assembly could not remain in office and demanded the dissolution of the head of state of the parliament under the threat of mobilization of the people.

The Space for the Uniting of Civil Society Organizations responded to the political situation in a statement, deeming the confrontation between sovereign bodies “serious” and “outside the supreme interests” of the country.

These organizations “firmly call upon holders of sovereign powers to refrain from conduct that could jeopardize peace, the stability of government, and the will of the people as unequivocally expressed in the elections since the last legislative elections” on June 4.