Lettre aux Chefs d'Etat de la Cedeao (Par Fernando Dias da Costa)
Guinea-Bissau maintains hope amidst the dark night and institutional disorder it is experiencing.
As you prepare to hold a crucial Summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the regional organization that unites the peoples and countries of our region, this Sunday, December 14th, allow me to take the liberty of wishing you every success. Many answers to major challenges that concern us all depend on its outcome. Those related to the situation in Guinea-Bissau, my country, are the most pressing. Even though, on all sides, the warning signs are flashing red, tensions are high, and there are multiple dangers, from the economy to politics and the social climate. It is not without reason that the regional body has declared a general emergency to underscore the urgent needs of the moment!
The people of West Africa have high expectations for your deliberations.
The only purpose that makes me write this letter is, however, to respectfully invite you, in my capacity as a leading political actor in Guinea-Bissau, and in particular as a candidate in the last presidential election, that of November 23, 2025, the results of which unfortunately not yet published seemed, according to all observers, to give me a large advantage to win it in the first round.
It is not our intention here to revisit the unfortunate events that have unfolded since then, including the suppression of the electoral process, preceded on November 26th by a military coup that those most familiar with Guinea-Bissau describe as a setup orchestrated by the outgoing President and his allies within the army to prevent a peaceful transfer of power to the election winner. Numerous other underhanded tactics and mistreatment, which spared none of our partners, including, at the beginning of this year, the exclusion of an ECOWAS delegation and the announcement of a suspicious coup shortly before the start of the election campaign, foreshadowed the sad, even tragic, scenario we are now experiencing. Its warning signs, alas all too predictable, were visible on the walls of towns and villages throughout our country...
I thank you, however, for having, as in other circumstances, promptly come to our aid. In doing so, you have shown us your support and concern at a time when this new difficult phase our country is experiencing presents itself as an existential threat, the solution to which is absolutely imperative. It is the central ideal of community, of active solidarity, that you have thus illuminated within us, reminding us how, in the midst of darkness, as a writer once said, the light of a candle can make all the difference.
Your Summit, in addition to the field visit of the current Chairman of ECOWAS, His Excellency Julius Maada-Bio, are the most eloquent proofs of your comforting concern.
On behalf of the people of Guinea-Bissau and myself, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Our regional organization embodies the international community's stance on West African issues. Your voice carries weight here, and, as you know, the whole world awaits your position on how to put our country, with our contribution, back on the path to constitutional order, a path it should never have strayed from.
Like many other stakeholders in these critical times, I wish, despite my status as the election favorite, to reassure the international and national community, in light of the results known to almost everyone, that the country's reconstruction will not be possible without a serious effort to bring together all the sons and daughters, and all social forces, of Guinea-Bissau, from every side. Naturally, as the forces protecting the people and the physical integrity of our national territory, our military has the mission to work towards this goal, assuming the leading role that will remain its rightful place in the nation-building project.
For my part, I will spare no effort to ensure the success of national reconciliation.
After the election, our country must rebuild itself as a united people, in solidarity and mobilized around the fundamental tasks of national recovery.
In this light, I would like to extend a hand to my fellow citizens regardless of their political, ethnic or religious affiliation.
Your summit offers us a final chance to rebuild our country by putting it back on the path set by its heroic national liberation struggle which led to its independence in 1973.
We hope that with your valuable help, this Summit will lead to the publication of the election results, which remain available despite announcements to the contrary, so that the President whom the people of Guinea-Bissau elected by their votes almost three weeks ago can assume his high office.
In each of you, I hold the hope of being the catalyst for a rebirth of Guinea-Bissau, rescued by brotherly countries and peoples.
Together, let us make the African continent proud and pull Guinea-Bissau, this land which has suffered far too much from political and military missteps, out of the crisis that neither its potential nor its history justifies.
More generally, I support your efforts to contain the wave of military coups in our region and thank you in advance for your presence by our side in these distressing hours.
Our entire people are convinced that the final and successful conclusion of the electoral process, which has so far been prevented by the military coup and the maneuvers of the outgoing president, is the main prerequisite.
ECOWAS can bring light and hope back to our country, just as it has done elsewhere in our region!
Fernando Dias da Costa , a Bissau-Guinean political actor, was a candidate in the presidential election of November 23, 2025.
Commentaires (8)
Ceux qui disent que la cedeao est moribonde vont déchanter
La cedeao se porte très bien et souhaitions la bienvenue au Maroc et à la Mauritanie
Avec son bonnet rouge sur la tête 🤦🏽♀️
Il y a une autre réalité qui traverse l'Afrique, et malheureusement c'est comme si nos médias étaient chargés de nous la cacher. Nos médias préfèrent nous parler des combats d'influence entre l'Occident d'une part et le couple Russie - Chine de l'autre. C'est la dictée de l'Occident qu'ils récitent. Mais la rivalité entre pays occidentaux en Afrique est beaucoup plus féroce.
La falsification a commencé depuis la présentation même de l'histoire. La conférence de Berlin a été présentée comme une simple rencontre pour la partition de l'Afrique, alors qu'elle est la conséquence de batailles féroces entre pays européens pour l'appropriation de colonies en Afrique. Et ils en sont arrivés à ce gentleman agreement de Berlin. Ils ont convenu de piller, voler, sans se battre entre eux. Mais étant cupides, sans foi ni loi, leurs bagarres se poursuivent toujours. Cette fois avec des médias pour monter de faux contes pour empêcher de comprendre la réalité.
Le coup d'état de Kagamé au Rwanda est un coup des USA contre la France. Le coup d'état du Gabon (dans la même famille d'ailleurs) est un coup de la France contre l'Angleterre. Embalo est un élément de la France contre le Portugal. Le récent faux coup d'état dans ce pays est une manœuvre de la France pour se réapproprier ce qu'elle allait perdre par des élections. Barrow en Gambie est un élément de la France contre l'Angleterre. Rappelez-vous du travail de la CEDEAO et de Macky pour obtenir cela. Le voyage de Barrow non encore élu au sommet de la CEDEAO au Mali. Sa première fausse prestation de serment à Dakar devant un avocat (ou un greffier). Lors du coup d'état au Niger, alors que l'ambassade de France était encerclée par des manifestants, que sa CEDEAO parlait de mener une guerre contre le pouvoir militaire, les USA avaient envoyé une diplomate rencontrer les militaires. Et c'est publiquement que la France avait dénoncé ce coup fourré américain. C'est peut-être même ce qui a calmé la volonté guerrière de la CEDEAO et la France.
Cette dimension là, cachée aux peuples africains, doit être connue. C'est elle qui permet de mieux comprendre toutes les intrigues, et tous les non dits des médias.
Participer à la Discussion