Armed soldiers in the West African nation of Guinea have seized power in an apparent coup d’état to oust President Alpha Condéon Sunday 5th September 2021.
The country’s borders were closed and its constitution was declared invalid in the announcement read aloud on state television by army Col. Mamadi Doumbouya, who told Guineans: “The duty of a soldier is to save the country.”
The commander of the army’s Special Forces unit, Doumbouya called on other soldiers “to put themselves on the side of the people” and stay in their barracks. The army colonel said he was acting in the best interests of the nation, citing a lack of economic progress by leaders since the country gained independence from France in 1958.
“If you see the state of our roads, if you see the state of our hospitals, you realize that after 72 years, it’s time to wake up,” he said. “We have to wake up.”
“We will no longer entrust politics to one man. We will entrust it to the people,” said Doumbouya, draped in a Guinean flag with about a half dozen other soldiers flanked at his side.
The UK Minister for Africa, James Duddridge has released a statement in support of regional calls for Guinea to engage in peaceful dialogue.
UK Minister for Africa, James Duddridge said: The UK Government joins ECOWAS, the African Union, the United Nations, the European Union and other partners in condemning the removal by force of the President of Guinea, Alpha Condé.
We call for the immediate release of the President and for all parties to engage in peaceful dialogue to ease tensions, and to prevent any further violence and to uphold democratic principles, including the rule of law. We, alongside the international community, continue to monitor events closely.
Alpha Conde has been in power for almost 11 years, serving as President of Guinea from December 2010 to September 2021.
He had become the first freely elected President in the nation’s history when he had taken the oath of office. He was re-elected as President in 2015 with about 58 percent vote and again in 2020 with 59.5 percent vote.
Alpha Conde succeeded Chad’s Idriss Déby as head of the African Union in January 2017 and served for one year.
Conde and his son have been implicated in corruption scandals related to mostly the mining industry and he has also been suspected of election rigging.
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