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G.Bissau junta leader promoted to highest army rank as Uganda army chief apologises X post

G.Bissau junta leader promoted to highest army rank as Uganda army chief apologises X post

by AFP Staff Writers
Bissau (AFP) Jan 29, 2026
Guinea-Bissau's junta leader General Horta N'Tam has been promoted to the rank of major general -- the highest in the country's armed forces, according to a decree he signed and published himself on Thursday.

The army seized power in November just days after the country's presidential elections, overthrowing president Umaro Sissoco Embalo and suspending the electoral process.

The junta said it was taking control for one year and appointed N'Tam -- a close Embalo associate -- as transitional president.

It has set December 6 as the date for new presidential and legislative elections meant to return power to civilians.

N'Tam had previously held the rank of brigadier general. Under Thursday's decree, he has been "elevated to the rank of major general", now carrying four stars instead of two.

The junta claimed it seized power in November to prevent bloodshed between supporters of rival candidates in the elections.

Both president Embalo and opposition candidate Fernando Dias had declared victory even as the country still awaited official results.

Before November, the coastal west African country had already undergone four military takeovers and a host of attempted insurrections since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974.

Crippling poverty, chaotic administration and political chaos have also made Guinea-Bissau a fertile ground for corruption and drug smuggling.

Uganda army chief apologises over previous X post accusing US of helping opposition
Nairobi (AFP) Jan 30, 2026 - Uganda's army chief broke ties with the United States on Friday, accusing its embassy of helping missing opposition leader Bobi Wine, then reversed his stance an hour later.

"I want to apologise to our great friends the United States for my earlier tweets that I have now deleted," army chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is also the son of the president, wrote on X.

"I was being fed with wrong information. I have spoken with the US Ambassador to our country and everything is okay," he added.

He had previously posted on X that he was cutting ties with the embassy, accusing it of helping to hide Wine, who has been on the run since elections this month.

As well as leading the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF), Kainerugaba is the son of President Yoweri Museveni, 81, who has ruled the country for 40 years and this month won a seventh term.

Wine accused the government of "blatant theft" in the January 15 election and fled into hiding, saying the army had raided his home to take him into custody.

Kainerugaba, who many see as likely to succeed his father as president, is known for prolific and provocative posts on X.

He had earlier posted: "Because of the present situation where an opposition leader kidnapped himself and is missing; and according to our best intelligence did all this in co-ordination with the current administration at the US Embassy in our country (...) we as UPDF suspend ALL cooperation with the current administration at the US Embassy in Kampala."

He added that this would include its work in Somalia, where Uganda provides the main contingent of forces to the international coalition against Islamist insurgents.

The post was later deleted.

Last week, Kainerugaba threatened to hunt down and kill Wine, and boasted that his forces had killed 30 of his supporters, and arrested 2,000 more since the election.

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