Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo says recent coup in Niger presents existential threat to ECOWAS, as the West African bloc prepares for another summit to discuss the latest Sahel crisis
Chronically unstable, Guinea-Bissau has itself experienced numerous coups and coup attempts since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974. / Photo: AFP Archive
Guinea-Bissau's president has said Niger's coup presented an existential threat to the Economic Community of West African States , speaking on the eve of aAddressing reporters before flying to Abuja, Nigeria, for an ECOWAS meeting on Thursday, President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said the deposed Nigerien President Mohamed"The only president we recognise is Bazoum — he is the one the people have chosen," Embalo said.
"If you don't want a government or a president, sanction it through the ballot box ... Coups must be banned". Embalo said that following putsches in three other ECOWAS member states since 2020, the regional bloc's future could be in doubt. "The situation that ECOWAS is going through is really worrying — this organisation has so far been the safest, the strongest on the whole continent," he said.
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