[3] Guinea-Bissau's semi-presidential system limits the powers of the president by allowing the majority party in the National People's Assembly to appoint the Cabinet, which also means that the legislature, currently dominated since elections in June 2023 by the opposition PAIGC party, which is critical of President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, also controls the National Guard, which falls under the jurisdiction of the interior ministry.

[1] On the morning of 30 November 2023, Finance Minister Souleiman Seidi and Treasury Secretary António Monteiro were subjected to questioning by an anti-corruption inquiry amid investigations into the alleged irregular withdrawal of $10 million in state funds that were found to have been paid to 11 companies.

[2] Later that evening, members of the National Guard "armed with AK-47 weapons and bazookas" stormed the police station were Seidi and Monteiro were held and released the ministers from their cells.

[2] The ministers were subsequently taken to an undisclosed location and were later found by authorities[4] after the Public Ministry ordered their rearrest,[5] while the guardsmen involved in their release retreated to a barracks in the Santa Luzia district.

Shooting continued until noon on 1 December,[5] when the army announced that the commander of the National Guard, Colonel Victor Tchongo, had been captured, although other accounts claimed that he had surrendered.

[4] On the morning of 1 December, military vehicles and roadblocks were seen on the streets of Bissau,[7][8] while security was increased around strategic installations such as the judicial police headquarters, the presidential palace and some ministries.

[13] Government spokesman Francisco Muniro Conte said that a "president who is elected must complete his term of office", adding that "we cannot obstruct people who are facing justice, if the law is really respected.