Guinea-Bissau
Situation in Guinea-Bissau still precarious

afrol.com, 2 October - The UN Secretary-General's latest 90-day report on the UN Peace-building Support Office in Guinea-Bissau notes that Guinea-Bissau has continued to make progress in consolidating its democratic process. 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."

 

Kumba Yala. Copyright: Mundo Negro

The UN has been present in Guinea-Bissau since a military junta overthrew then president Joao Bernardo Vieira in May 1999. The 11-month military revolt ended in May 1999. After a military transition government, democratic elections installed the civilian president Kumba Yala, taking office in February 2000. However, tension between the civilian president and the former military junta has prevailed.

The UN Secretary-General today thus urged the country's former military leaders not to interfere in the nation's political process. He also commended President Kumba Yala of Guinea-Bissau and President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal for their efforts to de-escalate border tensions between their two countries.

Wade and Yala have put former tensions between the two countries aside and started a military cooperation, jointly patrolling their troubled border. The border between the two countries has been an unstable zone due to the operations of the separatist movement in Casamance, Southern Senegal. Lately, armed bandits, not related to the separatist movement, have exploited the situation and made the border villages insecure. 

The Senegalese Guinea-Bissau cooperation comes after years of rather hostile relations between the two neighbours, as Guinea-Bissau was seen as a free haven for Casamance separatists. It was also assumed that the separatists bought much of their weapons through Guinea-Bissau. With the government of Kumba Yala, this changed dramatically, as Guinea-Bissau now has turned into one of Senegal's main allies.

In August, former military officers loyal to the ousted president, Joao Bernardo Vieira, were returned to prison for their alleged trafficking in weapons for the Casamance separatists. 

Sources: Based on UN

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