On Sunday, the head of Guinea’s Special Forces announced that the Constitution of their country is being suspended. This announcement came after heavy gunfire in Conakry and reports of a coup.
This move comes just a year after Alpha Conde, the president, won a contentious 3rd term. He changed the Constitution to reset the clock and allow Mr. Conde to remain in power beyond his two-term limit.
It happened in a country with a history of coups, in 1984 and 2008 respectively — before Mr. Conde was elected the first democratically elected leader. His government turned Guinea into a major exporter of bauxite, which is used to produce aluminum, but human rights groups say that mining companies have upended the lives and livelihoods of rural communities.
Soldiers declared that the country’s leader had been removed in the latest political turmoil to rock the impoverished, mineral-rich west African nation. This was amid conflicting claims about who was in power.
Col Mamadi Doumbouya (the head of the unit, as well as the leader of the coup attempt) sat in the flag of the country during a short address on Radio Television Guinea. He stated that the constitution and parliament of the country had been suspended, and that the borders were closed.
Mamady Doumbouya (head of special forces) said on Sunday that “We have decided, starting now, to dissolve the constitution.” He was surrounded by military personnel and the Guinean national flag. He stated that he was responding to the will of the people.
Videos of Mr. Conde were circulated on social media. His clothes were in slight disarray and he was apparently under heavy guard.
Another video featured Guineans celebrating and moving down Conakry’s streets with military vehicles, their riders raising fists.
Colonel Doumbouya is a former member of the French Foreign Legion, who, according to videos posted online by Guinean news media, received training at Flintlock, the U.S. military’s biggest annual exercise in Africa.
Witnesses claimed that they saw two civilians wounded in the fighting. “I see groups heading towards the presidency. Ousmane Camara, a reporter for Reuters in Kaloum’s central district said that there had been “a lot of shooting”. The area was under heavy military presence and deserted. Unconfirmed reports of military casualties were made on Sunday. A reporter from Reuters saw an ambulance and military convoys approach the palace area.
Witnesses claimed that soldiers had closed off the bridge linking the mainland and Kaloum, which is home to the presidential palace as well as most of the government ministries.
