African Union suspends Guinea-Bissau after coup, as former President flees to Republic of Congo

The Africa Union has suspended Guinea-Bissau following a military coup, saying it won’t tolerate unconstitutional changes.

In a resolution adopted by the AU Peace and Security Council , the organization reiterated it has “zero tolerance on unconstitutional changes of government.” It moved to “immediately suspend the Republic of Guinea-Bissau from participating in all activities of the Union, its organs and institutions, until constitutional order is restored in the country.”

Speaking to The Associated Press, former President
Umaro Sissoco Embaló’s Chief of Staff said the ousted leader traveled to the Republic of the Congo on Friday night and arrived Saturday morning.

“Yes, the President is already in Brazzaville. We left Dakar Friday night and arrived in Congo-Brazzaville Saturday morning,” Califa Soares Cassamá, the former President’s Chief of Staff told reporters.

Embaló had previously arrived in neighboring Senegal on Thursday on a flight chartered by the Senegalese Government.

Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been dogged by coups and attempted coups since its independence from Portugal more than 50 years ago, including a coup attempt in October.
The country of 2.2 million people is known as a hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a trend that experts say has fueled its political crises.
On Saturday, the president of the Transitional Republic, Gen. Horta Inta-a, appointed a new 28-member government, most of whom are allies of the ousted President.

Meanwhile, the West African bloc Ecowas took a similar action by suspending the country while urging the military to return to the barracks.

The military said they were taking power to thwart a plot by unnamed politicians who had “the support of a well-known drug baron” to destabilise the country.