Few days after legitimate government was returned to power in Mali, some military officers in Guinea Bissau have overthrown the interim government of Raimundo Pereira .
Run –off elections in one of Africa’s improvised country has been slated for this month, however military authorities are not in support of the reform policies- which will see a scale down of the military by the likely winner of the election, outgoing Prime Minister, Carlos Gomes Junior.
Reports have it that the putschist have taken over the state radio and headquarters of the ruling party, they have also arrested the country’s outgoing Prime minister, Carlos Gomes Junior and the interim president, Raimundo Pereira.
A military press attaché to Carlos and his wife confirmed his detention, sporadic gunshots was heard in the capital overnight.
In a swift reaction regional grouping ECOWAS condemned the coup d’etat, urging the mutineers to relinquish power with immediate effect.
In a statement read on state radio on Friday morning, the military said it had “no ambition for power” and had acted to halt what it called foreign intervention.
Guinea-Bissau, an impoverished former Portuguese colony, has been plagued by a long series of coups since gaining independence in 1974 – and has recently become an important staging post for gangs smuggling drugs from Latin America to Europe.