The coup de tat in Guinea isn’t the first one where an employee would kick out their appointor. We saw it happen in Egypt, Chad, DRC, and on Sunday, September 5, 2021, a French-trained soldier Col Mamady Doumbouya kicked out his boss President Alpha Conde from Presidential Palace.
Disclaimer:
InfomediaNG Team is still monitoring the events in Guinea closely. It’s a coup plot and anything could happen in a few seconds from now. It’s a developing story.
So, we urge our readers to keep checking as we continue to update this biography of Doumbouya.
- Place of Birth: Kankan Region
- Ethnic Group: Mandinka
- Assumption of office: Sunday, September 6, 2021
- Age: 41 years old
- Marital life: Married with 3 children
The same toppled president a few years ago brought in Doumbouya and made him the head of a Special Forces Group, an elite military unit created by Alpha Condé to protect him.
The aim Conde was to protect his interest, but at about 6: 00 AM the lanky soldier brought in his gun-carrying loyalists within the Army to arrest his boss, an 83-year-old man who came to power in 2010.
So…
Who is the new leader of Guinea?
At the time of publication, Mamady Doumbouya is a Guinean colonel trained in French. He addressed the press saying the president has been removed from power and subsequently suspended the constitution.
One of the first signals coup plotters send to the rest of the world when they take over power was to announce the suspension of the constitution.
Early Life:
The military leader of Guinea was born in eastern Guinea, specifically in the Kankan Region. The region shares boundaries with Mali and Côte d’Ivoire and the Guinean regions of Nzérékoré and Faranah.
How Doumbouya Was Made Head Of Special Forces
Common among Africa leaders are a sit-tight syndrome that begins to map out on assumption office. No wonder ex-President Conde after assuming office on December 21, 2010, created the Special Forces Group and appointed a former French legionnaire as the head.
The objective was clear: Conde needed a man who had a versed experience to put at bay any insurgency against his government. The chief coup plotter had what the former president needed.
His international experience was one of the qualities that made him a preferred candidate for the job. Apart from being a legionnaire, he also has a lot of military international experience.
Military Career
Trained as an infantry soldier in the French legionnaire, Doumbouya was highly trained before Conde was invited to come to head the Special Forces Group, an elite military unit created by Alpha Condé to protect him and made the presidential palace more secured.
He was a corporal at the time he returned to Guinea on the invitation of Conde to lead the Special Forces Group in 2018
Since then, he received an accelerated promotion in the Army. A few months after assuming the military responsibility of protecting the deposed president, he was promoted to the rank of the battalion commander.
In 2019, Conde motivated him again to the rank of lieutenant colonel and was decorated with the rank of colonel in 2020.
In 2019, he took part in U.S. training in Mauritania.
What Led To The 2021 Coup d’etat in Guinea
Before the Sunday, September 5, 2021 coup in the former French colony, there were reports that the chief coup plotter had been seeking more powers for his military unit.
Also, the former president had been accused of corruption, no wonder hundreds of Guineans took to the streets on Sunday to celebrate Conde’s removal from power.
While addressing the nation in a TV broadcast, the leader of the coup disclosed that Guinea needed military assistance after the “dire political situation of our country”
Other sins of Conde include:
- Instrumentalization of the judiciary,
- Non-respect of democratic principles,
- Conde’s plan to run for a third term
- Extreme politicization of public administration
- Extreme poverty among Guineans
The reason cited by the French-trained colonel isn’t strange at all, but we’ve also seen how military leaders across African countries violated the same reasons that brought them to power.
Most time military leaders in Africa cart away billions of foreign currencies. Late Sani Abacha (https://infomediang.com/sani-abacha-net-worth-before-he-died) who took over power in a palace coup on August 26, 1993, is a case study of how reckless African leader could be in power.
Our Take
The above reasons may be described as the immediate cause, the remote cause may however have more diplomatic and foreign interference.
For instance, we’ve seen in the last couple of years how the 83-year-old deposed president was aligning with Russia, a diplomatic relation France may not be happy with.
World Leaders Condemn Guinea September 5 Coup
A few minutes after the coup plotters announced the end of democracy in the country, world leaders including Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, UN Secretary-General among others described the coup as a violation of democratic principles.
UN:
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded an immediate release of President Alpha Condé who was held by the soldiers after the coup. He was seen on TV in a shirt seemingly rough-handled, but he says he was unhurt.
In a tweet, the UN chief said, “I am personally following the situation in Guinea very closely.
“I strongly condemn any takeover of the government by force of the gun and call for the immediate release of President Alpha Conde”
AU & ECOWAS speak:
The African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) jointly described the action of the soldiers as a clear violation of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, demanding.
They are calling for the immediate return to constitutional order, “ECOWAS reaffirms its disapproval of any unconstitutional political change,” President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, who is also the Chair of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, stated in a statement.
Buhari wants constitutional order restored
On behalf of Nigeria, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mrs Esther Sunsuwa, stated that the Nigerian Government strongly condemns and rejects any unconstitutional change of government and therefore calls on those behind this coup to restore constitutional order without delay and protect all lives and property.”
Release Conde Now – EU Tells Coup leaders
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell also joined in the condemnation of the coup in Guinea in a tweet.
“I condemn the taking over by force in Guinea and I call for the immediate release of President Alpha Condé”
Coup Will Erode Guinea’s Peace – US
In the same vein, the US State Department in a statement state that the coup would not solve Guinea’s problem, rather it will only erode Guinea’s prospects for peace, stability, and prosperity.
“These actions could limit the ability of the United States and Guinea’s other international partners to support the country as it navigates a path toward national unity and a brighter future for the Guinean people.”
Guinea got independence from France on October 2, 1958. Would France come to reinstall Conde?
Would the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) look away from the way it did when a similar coup took place in Chad?