Guinea: demonstrations against the junta paralyze Conakry, one dead according to the organizers

The authorities have not confirmed the death during these banned demonstrations in Conakry, carried out at the initiative of the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC), an important coalition of parties, trade unions and organizations of the society. civilians, who denounce the “unilateral management of the transition” by the junta.

The former ruling party, the Rally of the People of Guinea (RPG) and another important coalition of parties, movements and associations, the National Alliance for Alternation and Democracy (Anad), had also called to join the protest movement.

In several neighborhoods, clashes broke out between young demonstrators and the police, according to an AFP journalist.

Barricades were erected, tires burned. And the police fired tear gas to disperse groups throwing stones at them.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered legal proceedings against the organizers of the demonstration on Thursday. Ibrahima Diallo, head of FNDC operations, was pleased to have succeeded in this “paralysis” of the system.

Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who overthrew President Alpha Condé in power for more than ten years (2010-2021) on September 5, pledged to hand over power to elected civilians within three years.

Speaking in Bissau, during a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, the current President of the Organization of West African States, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, assured that he had convinced the junta to accelerate the return to democracy.

“I was in Conakry (…) to make the military junta understand the decision of the summit of heads of state that the transition cannot exceed 24 months. They had proposed 36 months, but we managed to convince,” he said.

On the other hand, Ousmane Gaoual Diallo, Guinean minister and spokesperson for the transitional government, told AFP that “neither the government nor the presidency confirms this information on the duration of the transition in Guinea”.

Three FNDC leaders were violently arrested on July 5, provoking violent spontaneous demonstrations. They had all three been released after a trial where they were tried for “contempt of court”.

On July 20, mediators from the organization, including former Beninese President Thomas Boni Yayi, Bissau-Guinean Head of State and current President of ECOWAS Umaro Sissoco Embalo, and President of the Commission for ECOWAS, Gambian Omar Alieu Touray, met with the head of the junta and Guinean officials in Conakry to discuss the return to power of civilians in Guinea.

No information had filtered until then from their exchanges.

West Africa has seen a succession of coups by colonels and lieutenant-colonels in less than two years: those of 2020 and 2021 in Bamako, putsch on September 5, 2021 in Conakry, putsch on January 24, 2022 in Ouagadougou .

Since 2020, ECOWAS, alarmed at the risk of contagion in a vulnerable region, has multiplied summits, mediations and pressure to accelerate the return of civilians to the leadership of these countries.

In Burkina Faso, West African leaders agreed in early July with the ruling junta in Ouagadougou for a two-year transition period from July 1, 2022, instead of three initially planned.

The organization also recently lifted its heavy economic and financial sanctions against Mali, after the adoption by the ruling junta of an electoral calendar fixing the presidential election in February 2024, validated by ECOWAS.