By Kemo Cham
They say old habits die hard. In terms of countries, this is nowhere more truly than in Guinea Bissau. The country is back again at the brink of political turmoil, only just over a year after its last democratic transition.
President Jose Mario Vaz, elected in March 2014, sparked tension after his sacking last week of Prime Minister Domingo Parreira and the placing of an ex-military chief under house arrest. Former armed forces chief of staff, Admiral Jose Zamora Induta, was also banned from leaving the country amid a brewing political crisis that has raised concern across West African capitals.
Admiral Induta was earlier in this month of August summoned by the army prosecutor-general as a witness and then the next day named as a suspect in connection with an October 21, 2012 failed coup attempt.
Local media quoted the army prosecutor-general’s office as saying that the former military boss's passport had been seized and all border crossing points alerted to prevent him from leaving the country.
The country`s parliament, narrowly dominated by the president`s party, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), in a statement "vehemently” condemned his action.
Guinea Bissau has known only instability throughout its life as an independent nation – characterized by coups, counter-coups, army mutinies and assassinations. In fact the country attained self rule by the barrel of the gun. Well, that may not sound out of the ordinary, considering that many African countries attained theirs the same way. But this small Portuguese speaking West African nation stands out in many ways, notably because it has hardly enjoyed any reasonable period of tranquility.
Coups and assassinations
Since independence in 1973, Guinea Bissau has changed government endless times, almost all through bloodletting. Again this may not be strange given the history of Africa in terms of military coups. But a few facts make the country unique. None of its presidents since independence has completed a full term in office. Either they were killed in coups or political assassinations, or they died in office, as was the case of the late Malam Bacai Sanha, who died in 2012 just under three years in office. Three were overthrown by coups, and one was assassinated in office.
Until 1984, Guinea Bissau was controlled by a revolutionary council. It had its first multi-party elections in 1994, and in May 1998 an army uprising led to the civil war and the first elected President, João Bernardo Vieira, was ousted in June 1999.
Elections were held again in 2000, and Kumba Yala was elected.
In September 2003, another military coup was staged in which Yala was arrested. A mutiny of military factions in October 2004 resulted in the death of the head of the armed forces then, General Verissimo Correia Seabra, and caused widespread unrest. In June 2005, presidential elections were held for the first time since the coup that deposed Yala and was won by ex-President Vieira.
In November 2008, President Vieira's official residence was attacked by members of the armed forces, killing a guard but leaving him unharmed. On 2 March 2009, however, Vieira was assassinated by a group of soldiers in an apparent revenge killing of the then head of the army, General Batista Tagme Na Wai, a day before.
President Sanhá came to power in elections on 28 June 2009. On the evening of 12 April 2012, members of the country's military staged a coup d'état and arrested his successor as interim president and a leading presidential candidate.
The international community, with the Economic Community of West African States at the lead, oversaw the election that brought in Vaz.
Nigeria, under President Good luck Jonathan as chairman of Ecowas, presided over that transition. But chairman or not, being the richest, most influential and most powerful nation in the region militarily (even if this has been undermined by the Boko Haram crisis), Nigeria still considers itself obliged to ensure its smaller neighbors are at peace.
So last week President Mohammadu Buari named former President Olusegun Obasanjo as his peace envoy to the restive country. But even as General Obasanjo was preparing to fly out, reports came that President Vaz had appointed a new Prime Minister.
Vaz`s action has set him against his party, PAIGC, originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from Portugal, but which turned to armed conflict in the 1960s.
But Vaz`s issues with the military, rather than his party, should probably be his major concern. In fact the president has been reported saying his fallout with Pereira stemmed partly from the appointment of a new armed forces chief.
The Guinea Bissau military is a major influence on the country`s politics, and within the last decade or so a few men have dominated it, among them General Antonio Indjai, who led the 2012 coup; Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, the ex-Navy chief who was declared a drug kingpin by the US [he is currently in a US jail on drugs charges], and Admiral Jose Zamora Induta, who led the army from June 2009 until April 1, 2010 when he was ousted by Antonio Indjai as his deputy.
Induta had been exiled in Portugal until his return last month.
Indjai, who led the 2010 mutiny, was dismissed by President Vaz as head of army in September 2014.
Cocaine trade
The Guinea Bissau military, headed by a corrupt bunch of powerful and filthily rich drug barons, has a bigger budget than health or education. And its dominant effect on politics in the country is such that during elections there is always the fear of violence or military intervention if the army does not approve of the winning candidate.
Under General Antonio Indjai, the army, during the 2010 mutiny, reportedly kidnapped Carlos Gomes Jnr, known as a proponent of military reform and a potential presidential candidate.
This state of chronic instability has nourished a booming cocaine trade.
Amidst the anarchy and lawlessness, the country became a lucrative place for South American and other drug dealers. The military is at the center of all this; one main reason why they can`t let the country be at peace for even a day.
The consequent weak state institutions, along with its labyrinth of islands and unpoliced mangrove creeks, have made the former Portuguese colony a paradise for smugglers, especially for Latin American cocaine destined for Europe.
The United States in 2010 labeled the country's air force and naval chiefs, notably Bubo Na Tchuto, "drug kingpins."
Bubo Na Tchuto was seized in international waters during an operation by North American and Cape Verdian police and extradited to the United States.
Guinea Bissau has a population of 1.6 million, with an economy predominantly dependent on agriculture; cashew nuts, fish, and ground nuts as major exports. Its GDP per capita is one of the lowest in the world, and its Human Development Index, the lowest on earth.
More than two-thirds of Bissau-Guineans live below the poverty line.
Amílcar Cabral is perhaps the most world renowned Bissau-Guinean.
Cabral, an agricultural engineer, writer, and a nationalist thinker and political leader, was also one of Africa's foremost anti-colonial leaders. He led the nationalist movement of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde Islands and the ensuing war of independence in Guinea-Bissau. He was assassinated on 20 January 1973, about eight months before Guinea-Bissau's unilateral declaration of independence.
Until the West African football tournament, Zone II, was abolished in 2007, it was officially known as the Amílcar Cabral Cup.
Cabral's political thought and role in the liberation of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde is the subject of a 1983 film Sans Soleil. There is also a Portuguese documentary by his name Amilcar Cabral, released in 2000.
Another documentary film, Cabralista, won the CVIFF Cape Verde International Film Festival prize for best documentary in 2011, putting the West African hero's political views and ideologies in the global spotlight.
(C) Politico 25/08/15
