Mamadi Doumbouya, President of the Guinea transition: "I will give my whole life to these people"

Audio 16:53

Mamadi Doumbouya, the president of the Guinea transition (screen copy).

© RFI

By: Alain Foka Follow

|

Video by: Alain Foka Follow

17 mins

Mamadi Doumbouya, the president of the Guinea transition, gives his first interview to an international media since the coup d'état of September 5.

He returns in particular to the recent ECOWAS sanctions and to the appointment of his government, entirely made up of technocrats and without any former minister.

He also evokes the fate of his predecessor Alpha Condé, which he puts in the hands of justice.

Advertising

RFI: A few months ago, two months exactly, you took the chair of Head of State, you overthrew President Alpha Condé.

What exactly happened?

Why did you overthrow him, you who owe him your place?

Mamadi Doumbouya:

For several years, we have had dysfunctions in our institutions, often linked to socio-political tension in our country.

And Guineans no longer regarded each other as brothers.

They regarded each other as political adversaries.

The financial mismanagement of our country has pushed us to take our responsibilities.

And the responsibility which is great for us, first of all I say since September 5 that we have to start, and that we begin to love each other as before because we no longer loved each other.

But, you belonged to that regime.

You served Alpha Condé.

Haven't you seen this?

Didn't you attend?

Don't you feel a little accountable for everything that is going on?

It has been more than ten years since I decided to leave my wife and children, out of love for my country.

I left the West to come and serve my country.

Wasn't he the one who brought you back to the country?

No.

I decided on my own to come to Guinea.

And to be clear with you, Professor Alpha Condé who was President of the Republic of Guinea, we saw each other twice.

The first time we saw each other was on October 2, 2018 during the independence celebrations of the Republic of Guinea.

And after that, we saw each other in a ceremony during a death.

I think the loyalty was between the country and a man… the choice is quickly made.

I think I did not come to serve a man, but I did come to serve the Republic of Guinea, and as a soldier my mission was to serve the Republic.

For you, the cup was full.

You had enough ?

Yes.

When we saw the socio-political situation of our country, there was so much political violence, that it is also the mismanagement in our country… It pushed us in front of the history and in front of the people of Guinea to take our responsibilities as soldiers , those of defending the interest of our country.

Alpha Condé is now in prison, under house arrest.

When will he be released?

I am not a vigilante.

I am the president of the transition.

And today, you have a Minister of Justice who will deal with all legal situations.

You are the president.

Can you decide to pardon him or let him go?

This is all that has brought us to all these destabilizations, to all these problems that we have, is the personalization of public affairs.

I will not do the job of justice.

I am president of the transition and not Minister of Justice.

Therefore, Guinean justice will have all its independence.

She will also have all my support so that this people thirsty for justice can really come together.

You know that you are subject to sanctions from the Community of West African States (ECOWAS), you and the members of the junta… They have asked you to make a six-month transition.

How long will the

ECOWAS is in its role.

And I think that the ECOWAS, we are very attached to it because we are founding members of ECOWAS.

We are a country which is pan-Africanist, which also understands that ECOWAS has firmness, namely [against] the seizure of power by the army.

But, we are not politicians.

We have just returned power to the people of Guinea, through the National Transitional Council that we have been setting up since, [to] be able to decide on behalf of the people of Guinea.

For you, it is the CNT which must decide on the duration of the transition?

We have to be consistent with what we say.

We said that we give power to the people of Guinea, because we want to put in place a system that will be able to resist the temptations of men.

And to do so, we will leave to the people of Guinea where the CNT will have all the components ...

... To the National Transition Council ...

The National Transition Council. There will be all the components of the nation which will be represented on the CNT. The CNT for us is the legislative body which will be able to decide on the timing, that is to say to take stock, the diagnosis, namely the problems we have, and how to find remedies for these problems ... because that the problems are known is the personalization of public affairs. We human beings will all disappear, but it is the system that will remain, it is the country that will remain. Hence the CNT's mission is to rewrite the text, that is to say the Constitution. A new Constitution will no longer be a copy-paste Constitution of the country.We are going to tackle all our problems and rewrite a Constitution adapted to the problems of Guinea to find all the solutions necessary for the emergence of our country.

But how do you set up the National Transition Council? By votes, by what? Who is chosen and on what criteria?

You know, there is a Minister of Territorial Administration.

Since then we have made press releases, namely on the filing of all that is applications.

We have given places to all the components of Guinean life.

They will all be taken for their moral probity and for their skills, because the CNT will not be a group so that we can come and discuss without moving forward.

We are going to send people to the CNT who still love this country and who want to go forward, who of course want to bring Guineans together.

I am very attached to the word gathering, because I also decided and it must be clear that the Guineans themselves can take their destiny in hand, namely: to get along, to listen to each other, because we do not was no longer listened to in this country.

We were very divided ...

Very divided, and I think that the gathering is the only way, for us Guineans, to face our destiny.

Last week, the Community of West African States (ECOWAS) took sanctions against members of the junta first, but in addition appointed someone to come here to help you. make that transition, Mohamed Ibn Chambas.

You wrote to say we don't want this person, we don't think it's necessary.

What do you have against Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the Ghanaian who was chosen?

No, the person of Mohamed Ibn Chambas for us is something else.

That is to say that the people of Guinea, the Guinean government have all the diplomatic rights to challenge someone.

And I think Guinea is not in crisis.

We have put an end to the socio-political crisis in the Republic of Guinea since September 5.

Guineans are in communion today.

They think about the future of their children and their grandchildren.

And we need to adapt African tools to African problems.

To do this, I think ...

He is an African Mohamed Ibn Chambas ...

Africa is a continent. It is not a country. All African countries have specific problems. The Guinean case is very simple. We have had seniors who have had personal problems, namely the management of public affairs which had divided the country. Today, the Guinean people are not divided, the Guinean people are in communion with themselves and I think that we do not need to give remedies which are generic remedies for us. I think you really have to adapt everything. Today, we are not in conflict. There is no crisis in Guinea. We don't need an emissary. We just need technical means, technical support. The ECOWAS has representations here. All organizations have representation in Guinea. So,these men afterwards will serve as an umbilical cord with the ECOWAS, with the OIF, with all the organizations…

For you, it is not necessary that there is someone who is chosen to lead this?

Guineans are mature enough to solve their problems.

So we are not against foreign remedies, but ...

You don't want drugs coming in from somewhere else.

Mr. President, when will there be free and fair elections in this country?

Do you have a deadline?

Will you be a candidate?

I think I have been clear, and I will be so again today with you: neither I nor any member of this transition will be a candidate for anything. We will bring the transition to fruition with all Guineans. We will start from the base to the top through the municipal authorities, after the legislative elections, the presidential election to allow the president who will come afterwards not be there to want to drag on, because the people will never again accept that we personalize public affairs. . So for me the duration of the transition needs to be defined. The timing of the transition must also be done by the legislative body ...

You said by the CNT. We understand that it is the CNT that decides the duration of the transition. There you promise that you will not be a candidate. But in this country, we remember not long ago that there was another officer, he was not a colonel, he was a captain, and who took power and who had promised to go away. go, Moussa Daddis Camara. And it ended badly. It ended with gunshots. What is the guarantee that we have that Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya will go? Can we believe in you?

As soldiers, we stand by our word. And at the same time, we took stock of all the experiences that did not work in our country. And we really don't want to make the mistakes of the past. This is why we are determined on this to ensure that things are inclusive, the timetable, the chronogram, the deadline for the transition. I cannot want to tell the people of Guinea that I am giving them their freedom through the voice of all that is legislative and at the same time imposing a deadline on the people of Guinea. If you have a two-week remedy to solve the Guinean problems, I think it will be the best thing for us, because when we see the state of our populations, when we see the state of our roads, the state of our hospitals, I think after 63 years,we need a good wake-up call to take charge of our destiny and let things be right.

You want to get things back on track ...

We need justice to do its work, for the CNT to do the legislative work, for us as a member of the Council of the national committee for the rally, to do our work of supervising the transition in total appeasement.

We are intelligent enough to look each other in the face and look at our history, and to say to ourselves today that no one in Guinea will accept the domination of the other.

It took you, Mr. Chairman, two months to compose a government.

Two months.

A government composed of 27 ministers, including 7 women, with only 2 retired soldiers who occupy the portfolios of Defense and Security.

What made government formation so difficult?

How did you find it so hard to govern?

If you want to do it right I think you have to think it over.

We must seek moral probity.

We must also check the ability of each other to contribute.

When we were able to form the government, we asked - because sometimes you are asked which school you come from, or who sends you - We asked all the candidates: what can you bring to the Republic of Guinea to allow Guinea to get out of this rut?

So, on the basis of this, we have selected from among all the daughters and sons of Guinea people whom we trust, who we believe to be up to the expectations of the Guinean population to lead this transition in total inclusiveness. .

Basically, did they all come to audition at your place?

As soon as we had the Prime Minister who went through this point, the Prime Minister and myself, with all that was the entourage, we did -I think- more than a casting, because it It was hard to find the right people who didn't hang around, to find people who had really clear moral probity.

So it was not easy to find.

None of them have experience in running the country.

Are you not afraid that they lack experience and that it will waste your time?

You should know that the ministers are accompanied.

There are departments where there are several people around a minister.

We have chosen, and this is a first in history, that there be technocrats at the head of our country in a regime which is supposedly military.

We told the soldiers to play their role as soldiers in the camps to defend our country, because we need that, not to get involved in politics.

And today, these technocrats, we have complete confidence in them.

And I also have complete confidence in the Prime Minister, Mr. Mohamed Béavogui, whom we have chosen because he has a sense of consensus.

This is the element that was decisive: the sense of consensus?

It is important. Because I think that this transition, we are not going to accept that there are personal projects. We wanted there to be consensus, to understand each other once again. Because, every time we didn't understand each other, what did it lead us to? It brought us to blood, it brought us to tears, and to the victims who are all children of this country and who could also be ministers, but who were cut down in their lives. So I think that Prime Minister Mohamed Béavogui, who is someone who has extensive international experience, and who is a man of consensus, can help the Guinean government today to get out of this rut.

We saw the Guinean populations in the streets when you took power, people who were rejoicing. You enjoy a state of grace today which is exceptional. There are a lot of expectations. What are you going to give away, what's the next step?

I will give my whole life to these people who deserve this.

And if we decided on September 5 to go to death, it is because we had seen the state of our country.

And we all thought together that we had to save the country by giving our life.

And I think it's our duty as a soldier, as a patriot, to fight and go to death once again whether it's politically or physically to save the country, to save the homeland , and to save Guineans by giving them hope of course and by changing their living conditions because, after 63 years, after all that we have in Guinea as an economy, as mines, like everything that goes with it ...

As riches ...

As riches if I may say so, I think that this people deserves better than the state in which our elders had put them.

You said, today “

 ”.

Can we believe you on that, will justice really be free, Mr. Chairman?

You know, that was my credo.

I am very committed to my word.

For me, justice… there is no development without justice.

If you want to develop your country, there must be justice, justice must be able to play its fundamental role which is, for us, impartiality in everything we do.

Mr. President, today, can we govern a state like this one by having this sanction from ECOWAS: you cannot travel, freezing of assets, etc., these are the decisions of ECOWAS? .

Isn't that a real handicap?

We need our partners of course, but what is non-negotiable for us is national sovereignty, because we value freedom.

And the ECOWAS, I think, must think about the evil which plagues our countries.

And I think that the ECOWAS must think of the West African peoples, because the peoples also need the protection of the institutions which in their name are supposed to help our countries and our populations to come out of injustice.

But can we govern without leaving the country?

You can't travel, have your assets been frozen?

I donated myself, it has been years since I was able to leave Guinea. I am in Guinea, I feel better in Guinea than anywhere. I don't need to travel. What I just need now is to focus in Guinea on our problems, to be able to find solutions to our problems. And as far as assets are concerned, we, the members of the CNRD, have nothing to manage. So, that for me, these are just principles. But whether there was something to deal with, you can search. You will not find. Now we are doing everything to stop the bleeding in our country anyway. And since we arrived, we've tried to turn off all the taps, because for me public money is not something to be played with. The trip,I think that we need to travel of course to Guinea to see our problems in the face and find the solutions to our problems.

Newsletter

Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Guinea

• Mamadi Doumbouya

• Alpha Condé

• ECOWAS