NIGERIA, Dec. 5 -- Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embalo on November 26, 2025 sat in his office as the President of Guinea-Bissau.

As a retired General, the 53-year-old knew when he was beaten. Three days earlier, he had succumbed to unbearable pressures that he allowed general elections to be held despite his fears. His tenure had expired on February 27, 2025.

Rather than hold elections in accordance with the constitution, he had it postponed. The Constitutional Court had come to his aid by setting September 4, 2025 as the new date for his departure or mandate renewal. The seven-month extension had seemed a long way off. But like the debtor who sets the month end for him to pay his debts, the payment day soon came, finding him like a cornered r...