Guinea-Bissau
Ousted military head tries comeback in Guinea-Bissau

afrol.com, 21 November - The conflict between civilian government and the military is reviving after the former head of the military junta, General Ansumane Mane, proclaimed himself army chief-of-staff against the orders of Guinea-Bissau's President Kumba Yala.

General Ansumane Mane has not held any official position within the military hierarchy since February this year. However, as the former head of the military junta which seized power in a coup d'état in 1999, Mane still is influential in Guinea-Bissau politics. The junta only transferred power to the civilian Government of Yala in February, but has refused to recognize Yala interfering in military businesses.

General Mane thus accused President Kumba Yala of not having the experience to make military appointments and said he should not interfere in the forces. "President Yala last week approved 30 senior promotions within the armed forces, but General Mane insisted these were null and void," according to the BBC. The appointments included the country's new army chief-of-staff - a post which Mane now claims for himself.

The action by Mane was probably an answer to President Yala's nomination of a new State Council in October, which took over the political role played by the former military junta led by Mane. The Council includes members of all political parties represented in parliament and civic organisations, and advises the President on key decisions such as declaring war or a state of emergency, according to reports by AFP in October.

Mane led the military junta when it overthrew president Joao Bernardo Vieira in May 1999. The 11-month military revolt led to a destructive civil war in this poverty struck, small West African nation, which ended in March 2000. The military only reluctantly let a civilian government take office after substantial international pressure. The UN has been monitoring the fragile peace between the civilian government and the military forces ever since.

Only last month, the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the military to "leave politics". A UN official thus told reporters that the UN Security Council called on the former military junta "to fully subordinate to the constitutional authorities" and "translate into reality" its promise to withdraw from the political process.

Guinea-Bissau has made significant progress in consolidating its democratic process in the few month of civilian rule, according to the UN. However, the Secretary-General warns that the "ever-present threat of military intervention, the precarious border situation and the country's chronic poverty make the road ahead difficult."

Whether Mane's auto-proclamation will pose any serious threat to the fragile state of order between civilians and the military, however remains to be seen. Correspondents in Bissau say the military is split in its loyalties and tension is growing. Thus, the whole incident actually might lead to the military weakening its position.

Sources: Based on afrol archives, BBC and UN 

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