Guinea-Bissau: President hails ‘concrete’ gains after ‘generation of failure’

The president of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, said in a message to the nation on Friday to mark the 48th anniversary of independence from Portugal that the country is experiencing a moment of change from a generation of failure to one of concrete achievements.

The country’s people, Sissoco Embaló said, now feel “more proud” of it, as it has rescued its domestic and external credibility, as a result of diplomacy aimed at increasing its respectability and trustworthiness to international partners.

“We have started a new political cycle that coincides with a clear change of generation,” the president said. “From a generation that faced the failures registered over the forty-eight years of independence to a generation that, today, is determined to chart a new course for Guinea-Bissau. It is not by chance that I have called this generation – which is mine – the concrete generation.”

The president also said that the country is going through a moment of stability for its political institutions, which has helped boost the foreign direct investment that is essential for socio-economic development.

Sissoco Embaló invited the country’s people to take part in the fight against the evils that assail it.

“We have the duty and responsibility, as citizens and patriots, to preserve the achievements we are making and the respect we are earning in Africa and the world, which requires the implementation of more energetic and efficient actions at home, with special emphasis on the relentless fight against corruption and injustice,” he said.

Sissoco Embaló praised the actions taken by the authorities in combatting the Covid-19 pandemic, but said thta it was necessary to “increase the capacity of organisation and resilience” against the spread of the disease. In that context, he called on the country’s people to engage in a “deep and permanent reflection” on the best way to preserve unity and cohesion.

Guinea-Bissau declared unilateral independence on 24 September 1973 and was recognised by Portugal on 10 September 1974.