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Guinea Bissau: In Need of a State

28 July 2008

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analysis

"Drugs arrive by boat or by air from Venezulea, Colombia, or Brazil to be stored in Guinea-Bissau before being redistributed in smaller lots to Europe. The process is relatively easy for the traffickers. The state of Guinea-Bissau has no logistical capacity to control its territory, particularly some 90 coastal islands." - International Crisis Group

Spurred in large part by the need to combat the drug trade, international support for Guinea-Bissau is likely to increase, as critical elections are scheduled for November this year. Nevertheless, as noted in the International Crisis Group report "Guinea-Bissau: In Need of a State," released in early July, the country still lacks functioning state institutions, more than three decades after its independence from Portugal.

This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains the executive summary of the International Crisis Group report and excerpts from a visit to Guiniea-Bissau by a delegation from the UN's Peacebuilding Support unit. The full Crisis Group report is only available in French, at http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5549&l=2 Given that international attention to Guinea-Bissau is so infrequent, and that this report provides a very clear analysis and summary of events in Guinea-Bissau since independence, the web version of this AfricaFocus Bulletin also includes excerpts from the full report, in French below.

For additional links and background on Guinea-Bissau, see http://www.africafocus.org/country/guineabissau.php

There is also extensive background information in Portuguese and English, including regular UN reports, at the site of the United Nations Peace-Building Support Office in Guinea Bissau (UNOGBIS)http://www.unogbis.org/homepage.html and on the United Nations website at http://www.un.org/peace/peacebuilding/pbc-countrymtgs.shtml#gb

For the latest report on drug trafficking in Guinea-Bissau and other African countries, see

http://www.incb.org/pdf/annual-report/2007/en/chapter-03.pdf

For a recent news report on Guinea-Bissau's only major export crop (cashews), see http://www.reuters.com/article/inDepthNews/idUSL1146527220080716

For a Washington Post report on new Pentagon interest in drug control in Guinea-Bissau and other West African states, see http://tinyurl.com/3ues4j

For a selection of books on Guinea-Bissau available from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk, covering both pre-independence and postindependence history, visit

http://www.africafocus.org/books/afbooks.php#gb1 or

http://www.africafocus.org/books/afbooks_uk.php#gb1

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Visit http://www.africafocus.org/books/afbooks.php (Amazon.com) or http://www.africafocus.org/books/afbooks_uk.php (Amazon.co.uk)

In addition to books on Guinea-Bissau, noted above, the country section now contains selections of ten books each on ten countries, including Botswana, Eritrea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, and Sudan. If your country of interest is not yet included, check out http://www.africafocus.org/books/aboutbooks.php to find out how to make a selection of your own and send it in.

And special thanks to AfricaFocus subscriber Rae Hendriksz, of the Priority Africa Network in the San Francisco Bay Area, for sending in a selection of African prison memoirs to be featured. Check them out at http://www.africafocus.org/books/themes.php (Amazon.com) or http://www.africafocus.org/books/themes_uk.php (Amazon.co.uk).

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Guinea-Bissau: In Need of a State

Africa Report N 142

2 July 2008

International Crisis Group

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5549&l=1

Executive Summary

Guinea-Bissau needs a state. Its political and administrative structures are insufficient to guarantee control of its territory, assure minimum public services or counter-balance the army's dominance. This core weakness has been at the root of recurrent political crises, coups d'etat and the proliferation of criminal networks. Despite advancing little in 35 years of independence, Guinea-Bissau appears to have gained new momentum thanks to the signing of a Stability Pact by the three most important political parties in March 2007. Nevertheless, there is real risk of it becoming a narco-state and a political and administrative no-man's-land, attractive to trafficking and terrorist networks in the Maghreb. The international community should urgently support the government's efforts to consolidate democracy, reform the security sector and construct viable state structures.

In Portuguese Guinea the colonial power never built the political, administrative or bureaucratic systems capable of establishing the foundations from which a true post-colonial state could emerge. Salazar's Portugal refused to grant independence, forcing Guinea-Bissau to fight for self-rule - the only country in the region to gain independence through armed force. No leader since 1974 has tried to establish the necessary structures for a functioning democratic state. Consequently, the country's infrastructure, bureaucracy, administration, political institutions and human- and social-development indexes remain largely unaltered since the first years of independence.

The first coup d'etat after six years of independence, was a direct result of nepotism and a client-based power structure created by the sole political party. This remained the model of reference for future leaders. The first, Bernardo Joao Vieira, kept power for almost twenty years by incorporating the army into his survival strategy. After his fall and civil war (1998-1999), the transition to democratic rule finally broke down due to the army's influence. Vieira's elected successor, Kumba Yala, also relied heavily on the army, until it overthrew him in 2003. Vieira's return secured the army's political control. Presently, the movement towards greater reform and democracy, fuelled by the Stability Pact and promoted by the government of Martinho Ndafa Cabi, faces the same military resistance and is hampered by the continued absence of functioning political and administrative institutions.

The creation of a democratic state is increasingly urgent as the risk of criminalisation is growing. Cocaine trafficking from Latin America has increased tremendously in recent years, and the country has become a pivotal transit point in the route to European markets. Hundreds of kilograms of the drug are estimated to pass through each week. Revenue from the illicit trade has already corrupted military leaders and political personalities, threatening the democratic process.

Fundamental changes to the way in which the country is run are required. Above all, army reform is needed most urgently to free the political system from military interference. The stakes are considerable both for the country and the West African region, already touched by repeated political crises (Guinea) and drawn-out peace-consolidation processes (Sierra Leone, Liberia).

The international community has taken tentative steps to lend its assistance. A program of reforms addressing major security sector and public administration challenges was adopted in 2007 and, at the request of the prime minister, the country was added to the agenda of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commision (PBC). However, for these steps to have tangible results for the people of Guinea-Bissau, foreign partners must galvanise their efforts and seize this real opportunity for success.

Dakar/Brussels, 2 July 2008

Report of the mission to Guinea-Bissau of the Peacebuilding Commission's Country-specific configuration on Guinea-Bissau

6-11 April 2008

[Excerpts only. This full report and other background information and reports are available on

http://www.un.org/peace/peacebuilding/pbc-countrymtgs.shtml#gb]

I. Introduction

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