(JollofNews) – Guinea-Bissau’s new president has dismissed the head of the armed forces, Gen Antonio
Indjai.
He rose to prominence during the civil war in the 1990s and led a coup in the West African country in 2012.
No reason was given for his sacking, although President Jose Mario Vaz is under pressure to reform the military.
Last year, the army chief was indicted in the US, accused of plotting to traffic cocaine and sell weapons to Colombian rebels.
Many senior military officers have been accused of turning the country into a narco state as it a major hub for cocaine smuggled from Latin America to Europe.
Guinea-Bissau, one of the poorest countries in the world, has a history of coups and no elected leader has served a full term since independence from Portugal in 1974.
Gen Indjai became head of the army after staging an army mutiny in 2010 – and led a coup two years later.
The decree announcing his dismissal was read out on state radio on Monday night.
Weeks before he was indicted in the US, his former colleague, Rear Adm Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, appeared in a New York court on similar charges linked to cocaine trafficking.
Labelled by the US as “drug kingpin”, the former chief of the Guinea-Bissau’s navy was arrested in international waters in a sting operation by US agents.
Mr Vaz, a former finance minister, won a run-off vote in May to become president and has promised to fight poverty and end the country’s instability.
Reuters news agency reports that although a replacement has not been named as the new army chief, it is expected to be a member of Gen Indjai’s Balanta ethnic group, which dominates the military.
