EXCLUSIVE: PAIGC EXEC CTTE MEMBER ON REPRESSION OF PARTY

The PAIGC has long been respected and supported in Guinea-Bissau for being the party of the people, run by the people. After all, it was the PAIGC that won the country its independence after a brutal armed struggle against Portuguese colonialism led by Amílcar Cabral. For the first several years of Guinea-Bissau's existence as an independent state, the country's sovereignty and institutions were synonymous with the PAIGC party. However, a coup d'état in 1980 changed the relationship between the party and the state. After power was seized by a small minority, the country was forced to open itself up to multi-party democracy. Since that time, the PAIGC has won every single election it has competed in except for one in 1999.

The current president of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, has been accused of coming to power via a soft coup supported by regional bloc ECOWAS against the PAIGC party. He is now also accused of working to repress the PAIGC, including in the aftermath of their victory in the June 2023 legislative elections. Embaló has vowed to remove, illegally, the prime minister that the PAIGC has put forward.

For more insight into the situation, African Stream spoke exclusively to Imani Na Umoja - a member of the PAIGC’s central committee.

Do you think President Embaló will end up getting his way?