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It was in a previous life of Mamady Doumbouya, before he was appointed head of Guinean special forces and then became, at the beginning of September, the killer of President Alpha Condé. In 2017, this former legionnaire was a trainee at the Ecole de Guerre, in Paris, and invited to testify by the specialized staff for overseas and foreign countries (Emsome) on the theme of ” account of interculturality in military actions ”.
The young commander speaks, without filter, to academics and generals to say what he thinks of instructors and military assistants on mission in Africa. ” Officers [français] have a flaw: they underestimate the human and intellectual capacities of Africans […] They have haughty attitudes and think they are the settler who knows everything, who masters everything […] We’re not as picky as they think we are “, testifies the former corporal of the Foreign Legion, who specifies to have previously “Consulted his African comrades of the class of 25 “.
Over the course of his eleven minutes of intervention, one hears the annoyance and frustration both vis-à-vis the French soldiers and superiors within the armies of the region. “ White servicemen trust our leaders more than we do. The French are often advisers to our [hommes] political, while an Ivorian colonel who will have done the same course will not have the confidence of an African leader “, regrets Mamady Doumbouya.
And to question: “Is it normal that an AD [attaché de défense en ambassade] in Paris does not have access to Emmanuel Macron while the AD [français] in Abidjan, when he is ready, he can see the President of the Ivorian Republic ? “
A premonitory statement
Frustration also faced with the difference in resources granted by the hierarchy. The colonel says he paid the price in 2016, when he asked for ammunition to train his men to fire. “I never had them […] because if I take this ammunition, according to the policies, I am able to make a coup d’etat “, he says in this presentation which may seem premonitory.
Mamady Doumbouya also recounts the mistrust sometimes felt in the face of questions asked by foreign military instructors concerning the manpower and equipment of African armies. “We think it’s a little suspicious, that it’s for information”, he said bluntly. He regrets in passing that “On a private level, the counterparts who come very often favor tourist circuits; the life of their African counterparts does not interest them too much ”.
The future putschist finally deplores the lack of resources committed by France in recent years, unlike the Americans, and ends his address by asking himself: “Are we still important to these people [les Français] ? “
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