Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo has appointed two new officials to safeguard his security.
This appointment is coming after a recent coup spree in some parts of Africa which was executed by the security officials of the government.
General Tomas Djassi became the head of presidential security, while General Horta Inta was named as chief of staff for the president.
These two positions have been part of the government’s organizational structure for a long time but have been vacant for several decades.
Djassi and Inta took their oath on Monday during a ceremony at the presidential palace.
Guinea-Bissau has experienced four military coups since independence in 1974, the most recent in 2012.
There was also an attempt to overthrow Embalo in February 2022.
“It’s true that coups d’état carried out by presidential security officers have become fashionable,” the president told reporters on Monday,
Djassi was previously the head of the National Guard, an elite unit of the army whose intervention helped stop the 2022 coup attempt, and Inta was head of the central police station in Bissau.
