AU, EU, others condemn killings
From Madu Onuorah and Oghogho Obayuwana, Abuja
DEMOCRACY was again dealt a blow yesterday as President Joao Bernardo Vieira of Guinea-Bissau was shot dead by men said to be soldiers less than 12 hours after the killing of the country's Chief of Army Staff, Tagme Na Waie.
The development is coming at a time the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) leaders are trying to restore normalcy to the sister country - Guinea Conakry - through the efforts of the International Contact Group on Guinea (ICG-G).
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, the ECOWAS chairman, has described the killings "in the strongest terms as reprehensible" and "as acts that undermine democracy, peace and stability in Guinea-Bissau. The fragile political situation in Guinea-Bissau has been further weakened by these events. This is regretted as it comes at a time when the West African region is making a forward march in the development of democratic governance."
Renegade soldiers last November attacked the presidential palace with automatic weapons in a failed coup attempt.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported yesterday that the military high command in the country had said that there was no coup under way.
Guinea-Bissau is one of the world's poorest states. It has a history of coups and has become a major transit route for smuggling cocaine to Europe lately.
Agency reports have it that President Vieira was killed by the army as he tried to flee his house which was being attacked by a group of soldiers close to the chief of staff, Tagme Na Waie, early yesterday morning. The military spokesman, Zamora Induta, told AFP News Agency that all was calm. But he accused the late Vieira of being responsible for the death of the army chief of staff.
The president's death is seen as a retaliatory measure since Vieira had admitted giving the orders for the shooting of Gen. Na Waie. The president's house was largely destroyed in the assault and later looted by soldiers while the military had taken the late president's wife and family to the United Nations representative in Bissau. Chief of Staff General Tagme died after a blast late on Sunday that destroyed part of the military headquarters.
Reports also had it that the army had ordered two private radio stations in the city to cease broadcasting.
A foreign ministerial delegation comprising the Foreign Ministers of Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia and Senegal will today be in the Guinea-Bissau capital, Bissau, to meet with all stakeholders. They will be accompanied by the President of ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, will lead the delegation.
Chambas, who held a meeting with President Yar'Adua alongside Chief Maduekwe, told journalists that the "delegation will engage all stakeholders in an effort to restore confidence among the political actors, civil society and security services and return the country to constitutional normalcy."
Chambas said: "President Yar'Adua has emphasised the importance of constitutional succession to the Presidency after the unfortunate events. He called on the armed forces and other security agencies in Guinea-Bissau to desist from any actions likely to plunge the country further into lawlessness and political instability. All peaceful loving people of Guinea-Bissau are called upon to exercise a high sense of responsibility and moderation in their actions and utterances at this critical and testing period in their national life."
He added that "the Chairman of ECOWAS expresses his deep condolences to the families and loved ones of President Joao Bernardo Vieira and Gen. Tagme Na Waie and the entire people of Guinea-Bissau on their tragic demise."
Dr. Chambas said President Yar'Adua "paid tribute to them as patriots who have fought for the liberation of the country from colonial rule and served the post-independent period to build the country. He entreated the people of Guinea-Bissau to take their demise as tragic as it is an opportunity for national reconciliation and unity."
He said that as far as ECOWAS was concerned, "there is no coup d'Žtat in Guinea-Bissau. And coup d'Žtat will not be tolerated anyway. What has happened is very tragic. It is an assassination of both the President and Chief of Defence Staff. What the Chairman of ECOWAS will like to see and is strongly urging is a constitutional succession in Guinea-Bissau. That is very possible. And that is what should happen. There is a new parliament in that country. There is a Speaker in that country. Their constitutional succession calls for the Speaker to assume interim Presidency. And this is what ECOWAS would insist upon."
He added that the ECOWAS delegation "will have as its main priority ensuring that there is constitutional succession in Guinea-Bissau. As you can see, it is a delegation, which will have other member-states of ECOWAS, to show that ECOWAS has a common position. They are firmly behind the actions of the Chairman of ECOWAS, President Yar'Adua. We want to send a signal to the Armed Forces and other security agencies that we expect that as quickly as possible, constitutional legality and constitutional order will be restored in Guinea-Bissau."
Meanwhile, the AU, the country's colonial master, Portugal, and the European Union (EU) have also condemned the killing of 69-year-old Vieira - nicknamed "Nino".
The Guardian learnt yesterday that the AU is arranging an emergency meeting to review the situation. In fact, consultations are also under way to convene an emergency meeting of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) to review the situation and take necessary action.
The AU chairperson, Jean Ping, in a statement, said the continental body "has learnt with shock of the assassination of the President of Guinea-Bissau, Joao Bernardo Nino Vieira, and that of his Army Chief of Staff, General Batista Tagme Na Wai. The chairperson condemns in the strongest terms these cowardly and heinous attacks, which have come at a time of renewed efforts by the international community to support peace-building efforts in Guinea-Bissau and consolidate progress in the political process in that country in the wake of the legislative elections of November 2008."
The statement went further: "The chairperson calls on all Bissau-Guinean political leaders and stakeholders to rally behind the legitimate authorities of the country in order to address the current crisis within the frame-work of the legitimate institutions and the constitution of Guinea-Bissau. The chairperson reiterates the AU's commitment to the Lome Declaration and all other AU instruments relating to unconstitutional changes of government and the total rejection of any attempt at unconstitutional changes of government. The chairperson has initiated contact with regional leaders on how best to address the current situation."
The late Guinean leader was an electrician by trade. He was a key figure in the struggle against Portuguese colonial rule. He first came to power in a coup in 1980 as head of the armed forces. In 1994, he won the country's first multi-party elections. He was, however, overthrown after sacking his army chief in 1999 but returned from asylum to win the country's presidential election in 1999.
