The commander of the Guinea-Bissau National Guard and some other members of the corporation were detained and transferred to the facilities of the General Staff of the Armed Forces in Amura, in Bissau, military sources told Lusa.
According to sources, Colonel Vítor Tchongo “and some other soldiers” of the National Guard were detained by members of the Military Police, after armed clashes between the National Guard and forces of the Presidential Palace Battalion that began in the early hours of this Friday. . -fair.
The clashes occurred at a time when the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Biague Na Ntan, is out of the country.
In the capital of Guinea-Bissau, the shots stopped being heard around 9:00 a.m., started around 1:20 a.m., lasted a few minutes, and were heard again shortly after 7:00 a.m.
At both times, the shots echoed throughout the city of Bissau and came from the vicinity of the Luanda neighborhood barracks and other National Guard facilities, according to information that reached Lusa.
The area of the neighborhoods closest to the shooting, such as Santa Luzia, Luanda, Empantcha, was, in the early hours of the morning, without movement of vehicles and people, some businesses closed, but in other areas of the city the population He maintained normal routines, even with the sound of gunshots.
Military sources told Lusa that these were clashes between elements of the National Guard and forces from the Presidential Palace Battalion.
The shootings occurred as a result of the tensions experienced throughout the night of Thursday, after the Public Ministry ordered the preventive detention of the Minister of Finance, Sulemaine Seide, and the Secretary of State for the Treasury, António Monteiro.
The two members of the Government were taken to the headquarters of the Judicial Police, where they were taken from their cells by members of the National Guard, according to several witnesses told Lusa.
The government officials are being investigated in connection with a payment of six billion CFA francs (around 10 million US dollars) to 11 businessmen, through a loan to a commercial bank in Bissau.
Minister Suleimane Seidi appeared this Monday in parliament, where he confirmed the credit request and also defended that the entire process complied with legality and also reaffirmed that it was a normal procedure between the Governments of Guinea-Bissau.
Shortly after the case was reported, the Public Ministry carried out raids and seizures of documents at the Ministry of Economy and Finance and also at the bank that granted the credit for payment to the businessmen.
Several leaders of the Ministry of Economy and Finance were interviewed last week and today the two main officials of the institution were arrested.
Suleimane Seidi and António Monteiro are the leaders of the African Independence Party of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which heads the PAI-Terra Ranka coalition, in Government, together with the Party of Social Renewal (PRS), Party of the Workers of Guinea (PTG) and five other small political formations.
Madem G15, a party that supports the President of the Republic, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, and the Assembly of the United People – Democratic Party of Guinea-Bissau (APU – PDGB) are the only opposition parties in parliament.
Source: TSF
