Guinea: why does the composition of the government drag on?
The junta leader who overthrew Alpha Condé, Mamadi Doumbouya, during his swearing-in before the Supreme Court on Friday, October 1, 2021. © CELLOU BINANI / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
In Guinea, the composition of the transitional government continues.
On Tuesday evening October 26, four new names were announced.
Eleven ministers have been appointed for the moment out of a team which must number a total of 25. It has now been more than seven weeks since the junta led by Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya overthrew Alpha Condé and three weeks since Prime Minister Mohamed Beavogui was designated.
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Tuesday evening, October 26, four new names were announced by the junta. Diaka Sidibé, previously Director General of the Higher Institute of Mines and Geology of Boké, becomes Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation. Yaya Sow, previously consular judge at the Conakry Commercial Court, is appointed Minister of Infrastructure and Transport. Aicha Nanette Conté, is appointed Minister for the Promotion of Women, Children and Vulnerable Persons. And finally, the Information and Communication portfolio goes to Rose Pola Pricemou.
These four personalities are occupying ministerial functions for the first time.
They thus join the seven ministers already appointed.
At the same time, the junta announced that the transitional government would consist of a total of 25 ministers.
The composition therefore progresses but takes some time.
CNRD soldiers and Prime Minister Mohamed Beavogui face a complicated equation.
Colonel
Mamadi Doumbouya
has promised Guineans a transition without recycling.
It is therefore necessary to find competent profiles without affiliation to the previous regime.
A break that is difficult to implement in a country where the administration has long been highly politicized, underlines Kabinet Fofana.
The political scientist believes that the slowness of the announcements illustrates the many negotiations and reflections behind the scenes.
A judicious delay, unless ...
For Aliou Barry, director of the Center for Analysis and Strategic Studies, a Guinean "think tank", taking the time to choose your team is positive. Especially if it is a question of composing a representative, inclusive government, which avoids ethnicization: “
This trial and error is judicious: how to compose a government while avoiding politicization or ethnicization? If you take all the governments since 2010, the whole administration was really [made up] of people who came from the same region and especially from the same political party.
He notes that for the moment the junta is careful to respect the balance between Fulani, Sous-sous, Mandingo and foresters.
Judicious therefore, unless the junta, which has not set the duration of the transition before the organization of free elections, has a hidden agenda. “
Behind, at the Analysis Center, we interviewed many political and civil society actors. Many are starting to ask the question: why take time for a team that only has one transition to make? What will be the role, for example, of a Minister of Public Works and Infrastructures in a transitional government? Is it to launch infrastructure or is it just to reorganize the ministry? We fear that behind this judicious trial and error in the concern of having a competent team is hidden a desire to spread the transition over time.
"
The observer also relays a question shared by others on the intentions of the junta concerning the timeframe for the transition: what motivates Guineans to leave good positions in the private sector or in NGOs to join a transitional government without being able to stand for future elections?
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Guinea
Mamadi Doumbouya