Guinea: border closures worry voters

Campaign poster of President of the Republic Alpha Condé at the entrance to downtown Conakry, September 18, 2020. RFI / Carol Valade

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3 min

A few weeks before the presidential election of October 18, 2020, Guinea is closing its borders with Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.

In Bissau, the decision seems curious and also surprises several thousand Guinean voters enlisted in their country and living in Guinea-Bissau.

All fear being excluded from the process.

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With our correspondent in Bissau,

Allen Yéro Embalo

While it is often common that with the approach of major electoral contests, land and air borders are closed, this border closure only concerns two of the six countries surrounding

Guinea

.

This unilateral announcement from Conakry caused surprise, in particular because several Guineans enlisted in their country of origin and living in

Guinea-Bissau

are blocked without the possibility of crossing the borders.

They fear that they will not be able to

vote in the presidential election

scheduled for October 18. 

This is the case of Morlaye who has been waiting for several hours for an authorization to return and vote in his country.

“ 

The fact that the border is closed takes us by the throat.

Frankly, we are disappointed.

We are in the process of taking steps to ensure that we are authorized to vote here in Bissau in the Guinean embassy

 ”.

Guinea and its neighbor Guinea-Bissau share 324 km of common borders.

Porous borders where the passage from one side to the other can be done without going through a control structure.

"

We are very determined to vote in Guinea

 "

In Buruntuma, a border town between Bissau and Guinea, vehicles are parked along the road to Sara Boido, the first Guinean locality, under the watchful eye of the defense services.

These transport vehicles are desperately waiting for passengers from Conakry.

Sitting under a mango tree, Hady and a dozen of her comrades are also waiting for the border to open.

They plan to go through the bush if the border remains closed.

“ 

We are between 3000 and 5000 enrolled in our villages of origin.

We are very determined to vote in Guinea.

We are going home and nothing can stop us,

 ”he explains.

No official reaction yet, but if the measure is prolonged, it could greatly disrupt the Bissau-Guinean market supplied with basic necessities, in part by Conakry.

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  • Guinea-Bissau

  • Guinea

  • Presidential election in Guinea

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