By: Ollus Ndomu
Guinea fell into an insurmountable political turmoil last Sunday, September 5, following a putsch spearheaded by Col. Mamady Doumbouya, which toppled the country’s President Alpha Condé under circumstances described as unforeseen by regional political analysts.
Hours leading to the takeover saw Guinean presidential palace and its environs under heavy gunfire as Special Forces Unit commanded by Col. Doumbouya, arrested President Condé and later shutdown land and air borders.
Announcing the suspension of the constitution, the government and all other institutions, the junta leader said it was the duty of soldiers to save the small West African country from political impasse.
“We will no longer entrust politics to a man. We will entrust it to the people. We come only for that; it is the duty of a soldier, to save the country,” said Doumbouya in a Sunday statement.
The 83-year-old president who successfully manipulated his country’s constitution to secure a third term in office, remains detained in an unknown location but Doumbouya assured that Conde was unharmed adding that he had access to all basic needs including medical care:
“We want to reassure the national and international community, the physical and moral integrity of the former President is not threatened.”
“We took all the necessary measures for him to have access to medical care and to be in touch with his physicians,” he added.
ECOWAS, AU and the international community have heavily condemned the takeover with the US State Department warning that Guinea would lose support from international partners.
“Violence and any extra-constitutional measures will only erode Guinea’s prospects for peace, stability, and prosperity,” the department said in a statement Sunday. “These actions could limit the ability of the United States and Guinea’s other international partners to support the country as it navigates a path toward national unity and a brighter future for the Guinean people.”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres tweeted Sunday that he had been monitoring the Guinea political situation:
“I am personally following the situation in Guinea very closely. I strongly condemn any takeover of the government by force of the gun and call for the immediate release of President Alpha Conde.”
AU through its Chairperson H.E. Felix Tshisekedi condemned the putsch and called for the “immediate release of President Alpha Conde.”
The ousting of Conde for alleged mismanagement, corruption and suppression of political rivals including dictatorial tendencies, may inspire other countries across Africa. Coups have become a fashion for removing dictators from power as in the case of Zimbabwe’s former president, Robert Mugabe.
Guinea’s coup follows a successful Mali coup in August 2020, when the military forced out the elected government.
Guineans continue celebrating across the country’s streets after the fall of Conde won the presidency in 2010, taking over from a military junta that had been in power since 2008. The 2010 presidential elections were the first in the republic’s 52-year history.
