Counting Begins in Guinea Bissau Presidential Election

Vote counting has begun in Guinea Bissau, as the country’s president Jose Mario Vaz looks to secure a second five-year term in office.

Vaz is the first president in the country’s history to finish his term without being assassinated or removed by a coup.

The country has played host to violence and political instability ever since it won its independence from Portugal 45 years ago.

10 candidates ran in this election, though Vaz’s main opponent is former Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, who was one of six Prime Minister’s fired by Vaz during his time in office.

The small West African nation is one of the world’s poorest and has earned a reputation as the continent’s first narco-state, used as a transit hub by Colombian drug lords who traffic cocaine through on its way to Europe. 

Used for its geographical location, West Africa provides a quick way to get drugs into Western Europe.

Both candidates have said they will respect the result of the election.