The head of the junta in Guinea, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, was sworn in on Friday as president of this West African country for a period of transition of still unknown duration and content.
The commander of the special forces who overthrew President Alpha Condé on September 5, in a beige ceremonial uniform, red beret and dark glasses, swore, before the Supreme Court, an audience of Guinean personalities and foreign diplomats and his family, “To preserve national sovereignty in all loyalty”, “to consolidate democratic gains, to guarantee the independence of the motherland and the integrity of the national territory”.
The ceremony at the Mohammed-V Palace in Conakry was held on the eve of the national holiday celebrating the 1958 declaration of independence from France. This Friday has been declared a holiday.
Colonel Doumbouya again pledged to respect by Guinea, a poor country, but with considerable mineral resources, of all its “national and international commitments”.
He also assured that, as provided for by the “charter” of the transition, a sort of fundamental act published on Monday, neither he nor any member of the junta or of the transitional bodies would be a candidate in future elections.
Before making him swear an oath, the President of the Supreme Court, Mamadou Sylla, compared the task of Colonel Doumbouya to the piloting of a ship “loaded with many painful events, many demands and immense and urgent expectations. “.
He called on him not to be sidetracked “by the force of the waves of demagoguery and the storm of personality cult”.
After two coups in neighboring Mali, Colonel Doumbouya led the third putsch in a year in West Africa, carried out in a few hours at the cost of an unknown number of human lives, the media reporting about ten about twenty dead.
Unknown duration of the transition
This coup is part of the tormented history of this tried country, ruled for decades since independence by authoritarian or dictatorial regimes. Widely condemned by the international community which demands the release of Mr. Condé, 83, he was however greeted by scenes of jubilation among a population exasperated by poverty, corruption and repression of the deposed regime.
In attendance were ambassadors from China, Russia and African countries, as well as the president of the transitional legislative body in Mali, Colonel Malick Diaw. Several Western countries had limited their presence to lower-ranking diplomats.
Colonel Doumbouya assigned the mission of this transition to a “re-foundation of the State”, the drafting of a new Constitution, the fight against corruption, the reform of the electoral system, the organization of “free, credible and transparent ”and“ national reconciliation ”.
The junta said it would return power to civilians after elections at the end of a transition period. But it has never specified the duration of this transition, which has yet to be fixed by “mutual agreement” between the military and the country’s forces, or specified its plans.
Colonel Doumbouya, colossus with calm manners, always closely protected by his men and appearing systematically in fatigues and wearing his beret, seems determined to give himself time, despite international pressure, analysts agree.
The Community of West African States (ECOWAS), worried about instability and a contagion effect in a region where a number of states are battered, called for presidential and legislative elections under six month. It decided to freeze the financial assets of the members of the junta and their families and to ban them from traveling.
Since his accession, the one that the official press releases already designated as President of the Republic even before his inauguration, has multiplied reassuring remarks towards investors and foreign partners. He guaranteed the respect of mining contracts and reopened all air and land borders.
The “charter” of the transition confirms Colonel Doumbouya as the new strongman of Guinea, “Head of State and Supreme Chief of the Armies”, who “determines the policy of the Nation” and who “can take orders” . President Doumbouya will appoint by decree a transitional prime minister, whom he can dismiss.
Watch video
Reference-feedproxy.google.com