The Armed Forces of Guinea-Bissau are celebrating their 60th anniversary on Saturday, linking the anniversary to the centenary of Amilcar Cabral, the historic leader who was at the origin of the country's military organization.
Amilcar Cabral Avenue, the main one in the city of Bissau, will once again be the stage for the ceremony with dozens of chairs and tents for guests and panels with the symbol of the celebrations, which brings together the 100th anniversary of Cabral's birth, the 60th anniversary of the Forces Armadas and 51 years of Guinea-Bissau's independence.
The birthday of the leader of the armed liberation struggle was in September and this will be the only official and public event that marks the date in Guinea-Bissau at the highest level.
Amid the armed struggle led by Cabral, the first units of the People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARP) were created in 1964, at the historic Cassacá congress, which managed to unite all Guinean ethnicities in the fight for independence.
Sixty years later, Amilcar Cabral is mentioned in the ceremony which, among several events, includes the launch of the book "O Percurso de um Combatente" by Biaguê Na N'tan, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces.
The book, according to a military source told Lusa, is an autobiography about the journey of the general who has led the Guinean Armed Forces for a decade.
The celebrations take place in the same week that the general publicly warned that the Armed Forces were in maximum readiness to prevent disruptions to the event, after demonstrations by the Guinean opposition were announced for the date, which the promoters ended up canceling.
The protests were motivated by the cancellation of early legislative elections scheduled for November 24 and postponed by the President of the Republic, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who dissolved the parliament in December 2023 and replaced the PAI-Terra Ranka majority government with one of presidential initiative.
The seats reserved for guests at Saturday's ceremony included the Permanent Committee of the National Popular Assembly, whose president Domingos Simões Pereira was replaced by Adja Satu Camará.
The Presidency of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau confirmed the presence of four heads of state at the festivities, namely the presidents of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, of Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, of Gambia, Adama Barrow, and the Transitional President of Republic of Guinea, Mamady Doumbouya.
Also announced are the Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe, Patrice Trovoada, the Vice-President of Sierra Leone, Mohammed Juldeh Jalloh, the Minister of State, Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic of Angola, Adão Almeida, and representatives from other countries such as Cape Verde, Algeria, Mauritania, Equatorial Guinea, China, Ghana and Djibouti.
The celebrations begin with an official dinner the day before, hosted by the Presidency of the Republic for guests and culminate on Saturday morning, with a speech by the Guinean head of state and the military parade of the different branches of the Armed Forces.
The festivities end with a lunch for guests at the Presidency of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.
