Kagame Questions Legitimacy of Guinea-Bissau Coup: “I Don’t Believe It”

KIGALI - President Paul Kagame has expressed doubts about the reported overthrow of Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embaló, saying he still does not fully believe the coup took place as presented. Speaking during a press briefing on November 27, 2025, Kagame said the circumstances surrounding the event remain unclear to him.

Responding to a question from The New Times journalist James Munyaneza, Kagame reflected on the rise of coups d’État across Africa in recent years, warning that they often reveal deeper, unresolved political or governance problems.

“I Still Don’t Know What Happened”

Kagame said his first reaction to reports of the Guinea-Bissau coup was skepticism.

“When I heard about the coup in Guinea-Bissau, I still don’t know what happened,” he said.“When I heard it, I thought someone carried out the coup himself. I didn’t think it was a real coup. I still need more time to confirm it.”

The president added that the increasing number of coups on the continent suggests widespread structural issues that have long been ignored.

Coups as a Symptom of Deeper Problems

Kagame argued that in most cases, coups do not occur spontaneously. “Where coups are happening, there is something wrong,” he said. According to him, at least 90% of coups emerge from grievances that leaders or their international partners have refused to acknowledge.

He criticized what he described as a pattern in which Western countries publicly praise certain leaders for years, only to shift positions when crises erupt. “These coups happen by telling these people that you have been lying to us for some time,” he said.

“Good Coups” vs “Bad Coups”

In one of the more striking parts of his remarks, Kagame distinguished between what he called “good” and “bad” coups.

He defined a bad coup as one driven by opportunism or military arrogance: “Someone who thinks that because he has a gun he can overthrow the government-that is bad.”

However, he said there are situations where a coup may be a response to entrenched corruption or abuse: “If a person or a group says: enough is enough, this person has lied to us, has stolen from us, has exploited us-and they act-then I think I have no problem with it.”

For a coup to be considered “good,” Kagame said, the new leadership must govern differently from the regime it removed and show meaningful change.

Youth Protests Across Africa: “Give Them Space”

Kagame also commented on recent waves of youth-led protests in Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania and other regions, where demonstrators have taken to the streets against corruption, mismanagement, or social inequality.

While acknowledging that some methods used by protesters may be misguided, he said leaders must not ignore the underlying grievances.“Before they do that, it is our responsibility to do something so that they have no reason to do so,” he emphasized.

Kagame stressed the importance of opening channels of dialogue with young people and ensuring that governance is transparent and responsive. “Every country has problems, and citizens may not get what they want when they want it,” he said, adding that it is the responsibility of leaders to explain decisions clearly and build trust.