The putschists who overthrew Guinean President Alpha Condé found themselves, Friday, September 10, under strong diplomatic pressure. The African Union (AU) announced the suspension of Guinea from all its “Activities and decision-making bodies”. And a mission from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has just arrived in the country.
The ECOWAS condemned the same day the putsch led on Sunday by the head of the special forces, Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, against Mr. Condé, 83, a veteran of West African politics. She had demanded his release and the “Return to constitutional order” in this poor country but full of mineral resources, especially bauxite.
The ECOWAS delegation, made up of foreign ministers from four countries and the chairperson of the ECOWAS commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, arrived at the end of the morning at Conakry airport aboard a plane from the Republic of Ghana, which holds the rotating presidency of the regional organization.
His arrival coincided with the AU’s announcement of the suspension of Guinea from its bodies, as ECOWAS had already done on Wednesday during a videoconference summit. West African leaders have “Demanded respect for the physical integrity of President Alpha Condé”, her “Immediate release”, as well as “The immediate return to constitutional order”. No economic sanction was mentioned.
Threat of sanctions
The Ghanaian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, is accompanied, in addition to the chairman of the commission, by her Nigerian counterparts, Geoffrey Onyeama, Burkinabé, Alpha Barry, and Togolese, Robert Dussey.
ECOWAS finds itself in a situation comparable to that which it experienced during a putsch in Mali in August 2020. It then took essentially economic sanctions and suspended the country from the organization.
These sanctions were lifted following the engagement of the Malian military on the path to a ten-hour transition.uight maximum months to return power to civilian leaders resulting from elections. But Cédeao has expressed growing concerns about meeting these deadlines.
As in Mali, the Guinean soldiers can boast a certain popularity, as evidenced by the demonstrations of sympathy that have erupted in various districts of Conakry, still fueled by the release on Tuesday of a first group of dozens of opponents of the regime. fallen.
The soldiers promise a “consultation”
They justified their coup by the need to put an end to “Financial mismanagement, poverty and endemic corruption” as well as “Trampling of citizens’ rights”. The soldiers gathered within a National Committee of Rally and Development (CNRD) dissolved the government and institutions and abolished the Constitution that Mr. Condé had adopted in 2020 and who then invoked this change in fundamental law to stand for re-election after two terms, despite months of bloody protest.
They promised a “Consultation” national with a view to a political transition entrusted to a future “Government of national unity”, without further clarification, in particular in terms of timetable. No information was provided on Alpha Condé other than that he was in good health and well treated.
No deaths linked to the putsch have been officially reported. But Guinean media have reported ten to twenty dead in the ranks of the presidential guard, information unverifiable due to lack of access to hospitals. The photos and names of at least ten victims, accompanied by messages of condolence, circulated on social networks.
Among its latest decisions, the CNRD announced Thursday evening the temporary freezing of the bank accounts of public administrative and commercial establishments, as well as those of former members of the government, previously dismissed in favor of the secretaries general of each ministry.
For their part, certain supporters of Mr. Condé let their bitterness pierce. “Guinea has always fought for democracy and democracy being truly established, in a single day the soldiers really came to put this beautiful democracy on the ground”, told Agence France-Presse Victor Léno, teacher and youth member of the former ruling party.
A member of the party’s communication cell, Mahmoudou Traoré, for his part urged vigilance towards the military, citing the example of other countries. According to him, “When the military say “we come for a little while” they will do more than five, six or seven years ” in power.
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