The President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, appointed on October 3 General Horta Inta-A as Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic, a day after he was dismissed by the government as commander of the National Guard.
Through a presidential decree, Sissoco Embalo invoked article 68 (z), in conjunction with article 70 of the Guinea-Bissau Constitution, to appoint Major General Horta Inta-A.
Paragraph z of the Guinea-Bissau Constitution states that the President of the Republic is responsible for “exercising the other functions assigned to him by the Constitution and the law” and article 70 states that in the exercise of his functions, the President of the Republic issues presidential decrees.
The position of Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic exists in French-speaking African countries and in Guinea-Bissau it is the first time it has been appointed by a Head of State.
The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Guinea-Bissau is Lieutenant General Biague Na N’Tan, appointed in 2014 by the then President of Guinea-Bissau, José Mário Vaz, and reappointed in August 2020 by the current Head of State, Umaro Sissoco Embalo. On the same day that General Horta Inta-A was appointed Chief of Staff, the Guinean President appointed General Tomás Djassi as Presidential Security Commander.
Djassi was removed by the Government from his post as National Commissioner of the Public Order Police on Thursday September 28.