By Obinna Uballa
Twenty prominent African statesmen, diplomats, academics, and civil society leaders – including former Cabo Verde President Pedro Pires and Nigerian human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) – have issued a joint statement demanding the immediate release of the results of Guinea-Bissau’s 23 November legislative and presidential elections.
In the strongly worded declaration titled “Restoring Constitutional Order and the Rule of Law in Guinea-Bissau,” seen by the Diplomat on Saturday, the group urged ECOWAS to intervene decisively, protect the legitimate winner, and secure the release of detained political actors held by the military junta.
They called on ECOWAS Heads of State, who convene on 14 December, to take “bold and urgent action” to address what they described as a grave democratic crisis in one of the region’s most fragile states.
According to the signatories, the National Electoral Commission (CNE) was forced to suspend the compilation and announcement of results after members of the security services and the military stormed its headquarters.
The statement said the military destroyed or seized key documents and data needed to finalise results from all eight regions, in what the group termed a “desperate attempt to erase electoral records.”
Despite this, the group insists credible copies and even original tallies remain intact and can be published under coordinated international pressure.
The signatories welcomed ECOWAS’ virtual summit following the 26 November putsch, as well as the decision by the subregional bloc to dispatch a mission to Bissau led by Chairman and Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio.
However, they stressed that silence in the face of “blatant violations” would embolden anti-democratic forces across the region.
“As active members of African civil society, we cannot remain silent,” they said. “Allowing military and political actors to collude to rob citizens of their right to freely choose their leaders sends a dangerous signal to West Africa—that power belongs only to the most powerful.”
The group also criticised what it called the “comic arrest” of outgoing President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who they said prematurely announced he had been overthrown, even as the military moved swiftly to seize electoral materials and detain officials linked to the opposition.
They expressed shock at the “brutal intrusion” of soldiers aimed at interrupting an electoral process that many Bissau-Guineans had anticipated would usher in stability.
Beyond ECOWAS, the statement urged the African Union, the United Nations, and the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) to play active roles in restoring constitutional order in Guinea-Bissau, a region already battling severe political and security crises.
They also appealed to African citizens and the global community to oppose, “by all legal means,” the ongoing undemocratic maneuvers, praising the resilience and maturity of the Bissau-Guinean people.
The statement was endorsed by:
Former Cabo Verde President Pedro Pires
Former Cabo Verde Foreign Minister José Brito
Former ECOWAS Executive Secretary Dr. Abass Bundu
Former CPLP Secretary-General Amb. Luis Fonseca
Former ECOWAS Commissioner Hajia Halima Ahmed
Former CODESRIA Executive Secretary Dr. Olukeshi Adebayo
CDD-Ghana’s Dr. Kojo Asante
CDD-Nigeria’s Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN)
Former ECOWAS Communication Director Adama Gaye
Media and academic leaders from Senegal, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Benin, Gambia, the U.S., and other African countries.
The group insisted that Guinea-Bissau must not be allowed to slide further into crisis, declaring: “Guinea-Bissau deserves the chance to complete its electoral process, consolidate democratic institutions, and uphold the rule of law.”
