Mohamed Lamine Sanha

Who was Mohamed Lamine Sanha?

Mohamed Lamine Sanha was a Bissau-Guinean Naval Chief of Staff. Sanha was implicated in several attempted coups against the government of Guinea-Bissau. Sanha was an ally of Ansumane Mané, who led the military rebellion against President Nino Vieira in the 1998 civil war.

Sanha was part of the military junta that ousted Vieira. Subsequently, as head of the navy, he released a South Korean ship that had been held on April 18, 2000 for fishing in Guinea-Bissau's waters without permission; he said that he was prepared to face the consequences of this decision. On April 28, 2000 he was dismissed from his post as head of the navy by President Kumba Yala. He refused to leave his post, however, saying that only the armed forces chief of staff could dismiss him. Yala and Mané met to discuss the issue on May 23, and they decided that Sanha should leave the naval base he was occupying and wait for a court to rule on his case; Yala agreed to postpone the appointment of a replacement for Sanha indefinitely. Sanha accordingly left the base on May 26. When fighting broke out between the government and forces loyal to Mané in November 2000, leading to Mané's death, Sanha was arrested by the government and Quirino Spencer was appointed to replace him as naval chief of staff in early 2001.