Both the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) have suspended Guinea’s membership after special forces deposed President Alpha Condé and took control of the country on 5 September.
Last Thursday, following an extraordinary video summit between the leaders of the organisation’s 15 members, ECOWAS called for the unconditional release of Condé and all other political prisoners. Burkina Faso’s foreign minister, Alpha Barry, announced that the Commission had suspended Guinea from “all of its decision-making bodies,” and called for the junta to “put in place a process that will allow a rapid return to normal constitutional order.”
ECOWAS’ decision comes ahead of the deployment of a mission by the regional bloc to Guinea on Thursday, during which Ghanaian Minister of Foreign Affairs Shirley Ayorkor Botchway will meet Lieutenant Colonel Mamady Doumbouya. Botchway will be joined by officials from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso, and the ECOWAS Commission.
Likewise, on Friday, the AU’s Political Affairs, Peace, and Security division announced: “Council, in accordance with relevant AU instruments, decided to suspend the Republic of Guinea from all AU activities and decision-making bodies and calls on the United Nations Security Council to endorse the final Ecowas Communique and has been also endorsed by the PSC.”
The AU also called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of Condé and the “immediate return to constitutional order,” urging security forces to “maintain a constitutional posture.”
ECOWAS President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, however, has met with Condé in the junta’s headquarters and claimed that he is “well.”
Also Read: Guinea President Condé Ousted in Military Coup, Government Dissolved and Borders Sealed
Against this tense backdrop, former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, who was defeated in the polls by Condé under suspicious circumstances last year, has urged ECOWAS and the international community to refrain from imposing sanctions against Guinea.
He claimed, “The junta does not deserve to be sanctioned because it put an end to a situation of lawlessness.” Diallo posited, “The involvement of the army to end an illegal and illegitimate mandate was for me a welcome decision,” arguing that there was no other choice. He added, “If (the junta) is really committed to moving towards constitutional order by organizing free and transparent elections in a reasonable time I don't think it’s necessary to sanction them.”
On 5 September, Doumbouya led a coup to depose President Alpha Condé and dissolved his government. Condé, who has been in power since December 2010, was then detained and arrested by the junta, who call themselves the National Committee for Rally and Development (CNRD).
Back in October of last year, Condé secured re-election with 59.49% of votes. However, government critics and opposition allege that the vote was rigged, with dozens of people killed while protesting against his decision to run, which they deemed unconstitutional, and the election subsequent results. In the months leading up to the election, Condé controversially amended the constitution to allow himself to run for a third five-year term. His time in office also became known for economic mismanagement and corruption.
Keeping this in mind, many citizens of Guinea, however, have celebrated the coup. Condé became Guinea’s first democratically elected president in 2010, after the tumultuous dictatorships of Lassana Conté, who ruled from 1984 to 2008, and Ahmed Sékou Touré, who ruled from 1958 to 1984. Under his rule, the country became a big exporter of bauxite, which is used to make aluminium. However, the mining associated with this change caused massive upheaval in the lives and livelihoods of rural communities.
The country is also rich in iron ore, gold, diamonds, cement, limestone, manganese, nickel, uranium, granite, salt, and copper, with mining accounting for roughly 35% of Guinea’s GDP. It is, therefore, no surprise that the coup has caused great instability in the aluminium prices, reaching their highest level in over a decade.
Coup leader Doumbouya has vowed to form a unity government. However, the CNRD have already taken control of the country’s national broadcaster, replaced a number of governors and senior administrators with military personnel, and announced a plan to rewrite the constitution during a transitional period. Furthermore, the group has warned that anyone who refuses to engage in dialogue with them will be considered a ‘rebel’. Therefore, it remains unclear how committed the CNRD is to relinquishing power or holding democratic elections.