The African Union has congratulated Guinea Bissau for conducting a peaceful run-off election in search of a new president.

The West African country held the second round of voting for the presidency on Sunday, with former Prime Ministers Umaro Cissoko Embalo and Domingos Simoes in the running.

"The AUEOM congratulates the Bissau Guinean people for their political maturity and for their ownership of the electoral process. It noted that the vote was conducted in peace and security necessary for the free expression of suffrage. Notwithstanding the few rare incidents, the election campaign and the vote went on hitch-free over the entire national territory. Overall, the election was free, regular and transparent." a statement from the organization read.

Guinea Bissau's electoral commission on Wednesday declared Embalo declared the winner of the election with 54% of the vote, beating Simoes to the top seat.

Embalo will succeed Jose Mario Vaz who has ruled the country since June 2014 and is the first democratically elected president to complete a full term without being deposed or assassinated since the country gained independence from Portugal in 1974.

Vaz failed to reach the second round of voting after obtaining only 12.41 percent in the first round.

Guinea-Bissau, a nation of around 1.5 million people, has long been beset by poverty, corruption and drug trafficking. In recent years however, it has heightened the war against narcotics and arrested many drug traffickers.

Source:African Union