Bissau – The government of Guinea-Bissau on Friday denied a claim by the country’s armed forces chief that members of the military had been planning a coup d’etat in the small West African country.
On Thursday armed forces head General Biague Na Ntam had said that a group of Revolutionary Armed Forces of the People (FARP) personnel had been trying to bribe soldiers to help them “subvert the established constitutional order”.
Some of the bribed soldiers “denounced the perpetrators of these despicable acts”, he added.
But tourism minister and government spokesperson Fernando Vaz denied the claim.
“The chief of staff has not foiled any mobilisation for a coup attempt in preparation. We categorically deny this information,” he told reporters on Friday.
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Vaz said that the officer’s remarks had been taken out of context and that he had merely urged young soldiers to stay away from such coup attempts.
General Na Ntam’s remarks were made on the day that President Umaro Sissoco Embalo left for a visit to France.
“A few months after the election of President Sissoco Embalo, Guinea-Bissau has found a way back to political stability and is carrying out its reforms,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a joint statement to the press in Paris on Friday.
“I can assure you that Guinea-Bissau has found the way back after long years of instability,” echoed Embalo.
Macron spoke of a “renewal of the relationship” between the two countries and praised “the courageous and determined efforts led by President (Embalo) in the fight against corruption and the fight against trafficking”.
The former Portuguese colony has suffered four military putsches since it gained independence in 1974, the most recent in 2012.
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Source: AFP
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