Guinea-Bissau’s electoral commission has announced that armed men destroyed most of the nation’s election vote tallies, rendering it impossible to release official results.
The military seized control of the country last Wednesday—just one day before provisional election results were scheduled for publication—plunging the West African state into yet another political crisis.
“We are unable to conclude the electoral process,” said Idrissa Djalo, Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Electoral Commission (CNE), while addressing journalists.
Reading from an official statement, Djalo revealed that all tally sheets were destroyed except those from the capital, Bissau.
The announcement followed a Monday meeting between CNE officials and representatives of ECOWAS, who sought clarity on whether the commission could still produce results. “We told them no,” Djalo said, recounting how, on the morning before the coup, “armed men wearing balaclavas burst into the tabulation room.”
According to Djalo, the attackers arrested the CNE president and five Supreme Court judges who were present, intimidated 45 electoral staff, confiscated phones and computers, and destroyed every tally sheet on site.
“The main server was destroyed. The tally sheets from Oio and Cacheu, which were en route to the tabulation centre, were intercepted and seized by other gunmen. All equipment was destroyed,” he added.
CNE president Mpabi Cabi, who was detained for five days, made his first public appearance alongside Djalo during the briefing.
The motives behind the coup remain uncertain, though speculation persists that it may have been carried out with the backing of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo. Embalo has since taken refuge in the Republic of Congo following his ouster.
Bordered by Senegal and Guinea, Guinea-Bissau has long struggled with political instability, having endured four successful coups and multiple attempted takeovers since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974.
One of the world’s poorest nations, it now joins Burkina Faso, Mali, Madagascar, Niger, and Sudan on the list of African Union–suspended states following military coups.
