Guinea: the curse of coups

Members of the armed forces of Guinea patrol the district of Kaloum in Conkary, September 5, 2021. AFP - CELLOU BINANI

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3 min

A National Committee of Rally and Development headed by the head of special forces, Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, announces having arrested Alpha Condé and suspending the Constitution ... A story repeating itself in Guinea. 

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Three coups d'etat in sixty years, multiple real or supposed attempts, in Guinea the army has always been the ultimate arbiter of political games and transitions.

During the reign of

Sekou Touré

, the father of independence, attempts at destabilization often orchestrated from abroad push the president to give increasing importance to the military in the management of the country.

When he died in 1984, it was through a coup d'état that the succession was settled.

Then colonel,

Lansana Conté

overthrows Louis Beavogui, transitional president, and sets up a military committee for national recovery.

A year later, Colonel Diarra Traoré unsuccessfully attempted a coup d'état, which led to a bloody purge within the armed forces.

To read also: Situation in Guinea: return to the coup by the putschists in Conakry

In 1996, soldiers mutinied, Lansana Conté narrowly escaped death.

This caught up with him in 2008, and the day after his death, a young captain without stature, Moussa Dadis Camara took power at the head of a National Committee for Democracy and Development.

With the rise to power of

Alpha Condé

, many Guineans hoped to see democracy take hold, and transitions to become peaceful.

But constitutional manipulations as well as a merciless political struggle block the political game.

And without saying it openly, many Guinean political actors considered a new coup d'etat inevitable.

To read also: Guinea: confusion in Conakry, President Condé arrested

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  • Guinea

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On the same subject

Situation in Guinea: return to the coup by the putschists in Conakry

Guinea: confusion in Conakry, President Condé arrested