Guinean special forces officers said on Sunday that they had captured President Alpha Condé, taken control of Conakry and “dissolved” the institutions, in a coup that could spell the retirement of a veteran of African politics. , but condemned by the international community.
No deaths were reported Sunday, despite the intense crackling of automatic weapons heard in the morning in the capital of this country familiar with brutal political confrontations. The apparent epilogue of more than ten years of the Condé regime gave rise to scenes of jubilation in various districts of the capital.
Border closure
“We decided after taking the president, who is currently with us […], to dissolve the Constitution in force, to dissolve the institutions “, including the government, declared in a video, the head of the special forces, Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, on behalf of a” National Committee of the Rally and development ”(CNRD), alongside putschists in uniform and armed.
He also announced the closure of the land and air borders of this West African country plunged for months into a serious economic and political crisis. Denouncing the “mismanagement”, Lieutenant-Colonel Doumbouya, wrapped in a Guinean flag, promised to “engage in national consultation to open an inclusive and peaceful transition”, in a statement on national television which briefly interrupted its programs.
The former president in video
The putschists also released a video of President Condé in their hands. They ask him if he has been mistreated and Alpha Condé, 83, in jeans and a crumpled shirt on a sofa, refuses to answer them.
In the evening, they announced on the television news a curfew “from 8 pm throughout the national territory”, the replacement of members of the government by the secretaries general of each ministry to deal with current affairs and that prefects, sub-prefects, and regional governors by soldiers.
Return to work this Monday
In addition, they “call officials to resume work on Monday” and summon outgoing ministers and presidents of institutions to a meeting Monday at 11 am, under penalty of being considered “rebellion against the CNRD”.
“We hold all of Conakry and we are with all the defense and security forces to finally put an end to the Guinean evil”, declared on France 24 television Lieutenant-Colonel Doumbouya, a very little known personality until then. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres “strongly” condemned “any seizure of power” in Guinea “by force of gun”, calling “for the immediate release of President Alpha Condé”.
International condemnation
The current president of the African Union (AU) Félix Tshisekedi and the president of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat “condemn any seizure of power by force and demand the immediate release of President Alpha Condé” and call for a emergency meeting of the organization.
The current president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Ghanaian Nana Akufo-Addo, for his part, “demands respect for the physical integrity” of the Guinean head of state, his immediate release and “the return to constitutional order under penalty of sanctions”.
France said it joined the condemnation of the ECOWAS and the call for “the immediate and unconditional release of President Condé”, like the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell who “invites all actors to act with respect for the rule of law, in the interests of peace and for the well-being of the Guinean population ”.