The African Union has suspended Guinea-Bissau in response to this week’s coup in the West African nation, the AU Commission chairman confirmed to AFP on Friday.
Mahamoud Ali Youssouf said the AU decided “to suspend Guinea-Bissau from its bodies with immediate effect.”
Election observation missions deployed by the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and the West African Elders Forum condemned the military takeover and the abrupt halt in announcing presidential and legislative election results in Guinea-Bissau.
In a joint statement released on Wednesday, the missions decried what they described as “a blatant attempt to disrupt the democratic process” in the country.
The statement was endorsed by Filipe Nyusi, Head of the African Union Election Observation Mission; Issifu Kamara, Head of the ECOWAS Election Observation Mission; and Goodluck Jonathan, Head of the West African Elders Forum.
The election missions urged both the AU and ECOWAS to take all necessary measures to restore constitutional governance in Guinea-Bissau.
They also confirmed that Guinea-Bissau would remain suspended from all ECOWAS decision-making bodies until a “full and effective constitutional order is restored.”
