On Sunday, September 5, 2021, after coming back from a regular church service, I went straight to the kitchen to cook Jollof rice. Before that, I invited Sodiq and Rebecca to join Lori, my wife, and me for lunch. While cooking, I would check my WhatApp messages to see if my sister had WhatsApped me because I was expectant of a “hello” from her so that I can initiative a WhatsApp video call to chat with my mother, a Sunday routine activity where I get to talk with my parents and siblings in Ghana
This time around, it wasn’t from my sister who whatApped me but a message I received from the”ALUMNI UCC,” a private WhatApp group that I’m a member of. This group is made of the 2015 Social Sciences graduate students of the University of Cape, who are quick to update other members on the happenings around the world.
As a result, I received Pictures, Videos, and Screenshots of the political happenings in Conakry, Guinea—All the pictures and videos showed that Guinea’s first democratically elected octogenarian President, ALPHA CONDE has been toppled by a group of army shoulders. I paused for a moment and for a second thought, I continued to cook the stew that would late use to cook the jollof rice.
After I finished cooking the Jollof rice, I proceeded to work on the assignments that were due on that Sunday at 11:59 pm. By the time I completed all 4 assignments and submit them, I was tired. I took a shower, prayed, and went straight to bed.
The next morning, I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for Monday’s work schedule. At noon, I read few news portals to acquaint myself with the happenings in Guinea. Once I researched, and as usual, coup d’etat, the army seized control of the state’s television on that Sunday and proclaimed that President Alpa Conde’s government has been dissolved. President Conde was “quarantined.” Col. Mamady Doumbouya was identified as the leader of the coup.
To further strengthen their grip on power, the coup plotters placed curfews and shut down security installations in Guinea and announced to the Guineans and the world that the end of a terror regime and the beginning of another terror reign.
What were the bases for this coup? Col. Mamady Doumbouya, the leader of the coup proclaimed that lack of progress and economic starvation after Guinea’s independence precipitated the take over of Alpha Conde’s government. Were Col. Doumbouya’s predictions correct or there are factors beyond this proclamation?
Before this socio-politico analysis of this infamous coup, let me provide a summary of Guinea. In brief, Guinea, the country of Western Africa, is located on the Atlantic Coast. She gained her independence in 1958 from France. Guinea is a member of the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS).
According to the 2019 World Bank report, Guinea’s population was 12.7 million. She is endowed with natural resources such as oil, gold, diamond, bauxite reserves, etc. Despite Guinea’s riches, nearly half of the population wallows in abject poverty. And Guinea has had 6 presidents including Conde since it gained its independence from France.
In my local dialect[Konkomba], the elders used to say that “a cockroach will not be found in the middle of the wall if the wall didn’t have a crack.” In other words and in my own estimation, there wouldn’t be a coup d’etat in Guinea if Guinea’s democracy wasn’t cracked, manipulated by now-deposed President Alpha Conde.
In 2010, Conde made history by becoming the first democratically elected President in Guinea. According to Guinea’s constitution, Conde could only serve two terms limit, that was if he completes the first term and wins the second term. In other words, Guinea’s constitution defined presidential two-term limits.
Conde served his first term from 2010 to 2015 and his second term from 2015 to 2020. In line with the spirit of Guinea’s constitution, Conde was expected to organize elections and hand over power to whoever was elected by the people of Guinea.
However, in 2020, Conde broke the two-term presidential limit stipulated by the constitution that brought him to power. In 2020, instead of organizing elections, Conde sponsored and organized a referendum to change the presidential two-term limit to a third term limit that would allow him to go for a third term. In Africa, aging is considered a sign of wisdom. In contrast, Conde’s aging wasn’t a sign of wisdom but a sign of tyranny.
These reforms were met with stiff opposition from the main opposition party, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea to Conde’s Rally of the Guinea People party. According to the opposition party, Conde’s actions were undemocratic and alien to Guinea’s constitution. Ghana’s foreign minister, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, a delegation from the West African body held extensive deliberation with the Guinean President during the amendment of the Guinean constitution. Conde rejected the opposition and ECOWAS appeal not to amend the constitution.
The constitutional reforms caused several protests and civil unrest. In particular, the protests caused the death of 32 Guineans. Before the unpopular referendum, authorities removed about 2.5 million “unverifiable” names from the electoral register.
Posing from a socio-politico lens, Conde’s lack of respect for the constitution of Guinea, coupled with embedded corruption, lack of economic progress, and abject poverty cannot rule for the events that occurred on Sunday, September 5, 2021.
Alpha Conde could not “quarantine” his political libido for power nor curb favoritism, corruption, and abject poverty in Guinea. Instead, he was manipulating the constitution for his parochial interest. In the middle of this pandemic, Guineans needed a leader who would provide them enough medical supplies to curb the Coronavirus.
But Conde provided a new constitution curbing the opposition competing for power. The socio-politico factors illustrated above served as the precursor for Col. Doumbouya and his men to topple the 83-year-old President of Guinea
On the other hand, changing somewhat a democratically elected leader by military intervention is never an option but another recipe for disaster. Bad leaders must be changed through a thumb and a ballot paper, not a bullet nor gun.
What’s next after Conde “raped” and de-virgin Guinea’s fledgling democracy? I deliberately choose the words “raped” and “de-virgin” to emphasize that: Conde abandoned Guinea’s fledgling democracy that brought him to power. The democracy that he, Conde rode to make history by becoming the first democratically elected president in the West African nation.
In practice, Conde could not nurture the fledgling democracy that was bequeathed to him by Guineans. To that end, President Conde betrayed Guineans who entrusted him with their freedom, resources, lives, and democracy.
According to Proverbs 20:29, “the glory of the young men is their strength: and the beauty of the old men is the gray head. In this case, for now, the glory of Col. Doumbouya’s strength lies in the military but the beauty of Conde’s gray hair cut-short his third-term presidential ambition.
To salvage Guinea’s international image and build a democratic society, Col. Doumbouya has a mountain to climb. He would need to return Guineans to the Democratic path. This implies that he should hand over power immediately to a transition government and release the “quarantined” President to avoid further future internal political crises. A prescription that that is readily available in theory but scarce in practice.
