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Guinea Bissau ALERT: Radio stations ordered to close down

Guinea Bissau’s privately-owned radio stations were on March 2, 2009 ordered by the country’s authorities to cease broadcasting. Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s correspondent reported that the directive followed political disturbances in the country that have so far claimed two prominent lives including President Joao Bernardo Vieira and the country’s army commander. Several people have also been injured in the attacks which began on the night of March 1. The correspondent said the...

GUINEA-BISSAU-SENEGAL: Assassinations breed uncertainty in neighbouring Casamance

The recent assassinations of Guinea-Bissau’s president and army chief have cast a deep uncertainty over Senegal’s restive Casamance region, where a decades-long separatist struggle has been heavily influenced by Bissau politics, analysts say. On 2 March President João Bernardo Vieira was shot dead, hours after a rocket attack killed Army Chief of Staff Tagme Na Wai. Guinea-Bissau officials have insisted the presidential assassination was not a coup, and on 3 March Guinea-Bissau swore in the...

GUINEA-BISSAU: Military reform more important than ever

Reforming Guinea-Bissau’s army and police units is now more pressing than ever to avoid instability say UN officials and government representatives. “There are two paramount issues that the new government must now take forward: to hold elections in 60 days, and to go ahead with security sector reform,” said Vladimir Montero, spokesperson for the UN Peace Building support office. Interim President Raimundo Pereira, sworn in on 2 March, agreed to pursue security sector reform at a 4 March...

GUINEA-BISSAU: Coup attempt highlights vulnerability

DAKAR Monday, November 24, 2008 (IRIN) - An apparent coup attempt in Guinea-Bissau on 23 November has underscored the country’s chronic political volatility.In recent years political decay has meant the increasing vulnerability of Guinea-Bissau’s population, who face some of the world’s highest levels of maternal mortality, under-five malnutrition and lack of access to clean water and sanitation, according to the latest UN human development index. Gunfire broke out at President Joao Bernardo...

6 Guinea-Bissau troops arrested in attempted coup

Guinea-Bissau's government says six soldiers have been arrested in the West African country a day after armed men attacked the president's home.Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Armando Nhaga says three other suspected coup plotters fled after the gunbattle early Sunday. At least one guard was killed.

Senegal troops for Bissau border

Senegal is sending troop reinforcements to the border with Guinea-Bissau, after the weekend attack on its President Joao Bernardo Vieira. Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade has ordered the army to take "all necessary measures" to strengthen the border.

Guinea-Bissau's president's home under fire

A gun attack on the presidential home in Guinea-Bissau has left one person dead and several injured, hours after election results were announced. A BBC West Africa correspondent says the attack appears to have been a failed coup attempt.

GUINEA-BISSAU: Cholera epidemic not yet peaked

DAKAR Monday, October 13, 2008 (IRIN) - DAKAR, 13 October 2008 (IRIN) - The cholera epidemic is still out of control across Guinea-Bissau, with the number of cases doubling in the past three weeks, bringing the total number of people stricken to 10,476 as of 9 October. There have been 312 new infections in the past two days, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and 181 people have died from the disease. “The epidemic is not under control. I don’t want to be alarmist, but we haven’t...

GUINEA-BISSAU-SENEGAL: Child trafficking on the decline say local authorities

BISSAU Wednesday, October 15, 2008 (IRIN) - Child trafficking from Guinea-Bissau to Senegal is on the decline, partly due to better collaboration among local residents, civil society groups and government, local authorities said. Government officials and aid workers say more and more sectors are on the watch for suspicious movement of children. “Now a whole new set of actors are involved who weren’t in the past – border police, governors, even truck-drivers unions, and we receive information...

GUINEA-BISSAU: Cautious optimism ahead of parliamentary poll

BISSAU Saturday, November 15, 2008 (IRIN) - UN and other international observers say they are cautiously optimistic ahead of Guinea-Bissau’s parliamentary elections set for 16 November, while some citizens fear violence in the country long plagued by unrest. The breakdown of a national stability pact only four months ago -- followed by the dissolution of parliament -- sparked concern that the political situation might be too fragile for elections....