An investigation commission would be established « from Monday, December 4th » in Guinea-Bissau, announced President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, denouncing an « attempted coup, » upon his return to Bissau from Dubai, where he participated in the Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP28).
National Guard soldiers released two ministers detained on the night of November 30th to December 1st, while they were being questioned by the police about an alleged embezzlement of ten million dollars from the state coffers. The ministers involved were the Minister of Finance Souleiman Seidi and the Secretary of State in charge of Public Finance, Antonio Monteiro, who were evacuated by the National Guard and taken to an undisclosed location.
Intense gunfire was heard in the capital Bissau following this operation. However, the two high-ranking state officials were later apprehended and placed back in detention.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) « strongly condemns the violence and all attempts to disrupt constitutional order and the rule of law in Guinea-Bissau, » as stated in a press release on December 2nd, calling for « the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the incident. »