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Denver – The West African country of Guinea continues to be in a state of turmoil after a swift military coup in Conakry over the weekend saw the removal of Alpha Conde, the country’s first democratically elected leader.
Guinean special forces commander Colonel Mamady Doumbouya orchestrated the operation and has now installed himself as the head of a new military junta. But who exactly is Doumbouya?
According to local media, Doumbouya is a Guinean military official who former president Conde personally appointed to lead the newly created Grouping of Special Forces (GPS).
Doumbouya holds both Guinean and French citizenship and was trained at the International Academy of Security in Israel, in addition to obtaining a master’s degree in defense and military studies in Paris. Doumbouya also served for over a decade in the renowned French Foreign Legion, commanding units in Afghanistan, Djibouti, and the Ivory Coast.
After President Conde announced the creation of an elite Guinean special forces unit in 2018 to fight against terrorism and related challenges, he appointed Doumbouya as the leader. Since then, sources report the relationship between the two grew increasingly tense, as Doumbouya and Conde disagreed on how much autonomous authority Doumbouya’s forces were allowed to have.
The tensions culminated in the sudden coup over the weekend that saw Conde’s arrest, border closures, the dissolution of the constitution, and nightly curfews for the people of Guinea. Doumbouya quickly announced the formation of the new government, citing “mismanagement” by the previous administration.
By Monday morning, Guinean sources reported military personnel were beginning to take over administrative positions throughout the capital and requisitioning government assets. Doumbouya also held earlier today a meeting with officials from the deposed administration to facilitate the transition of roles to the new military authorities.
Many in the international community, including France and the UN, have called for the “immediate release” of Conde and his restoration in power. However, Conde’s recent start to his third term has been marred with controversy throughout the country.
His political opponents have notably denounced Conde’s authoritarian turn, pointing to rigged elections or “box stuffing” and the increasing abuse of human rights throughout Guinea. Citizens have also been upset due to a receding economy and the country’s response to COVID-19.
After coming to power in 2010 to great international and local applause as the face of a coming democratic revolution in Guinea, critics Conde gradually changed to become another embodiment of the country’s autocratic dictators he had opposed and fought against for four decades.
Deviating from his democratic promises, he eventually changed the country’s constitution to be able to run for a third term in late 2020.
While observers have credited the reported feud between Conde and Doumbouya as the immediate reason for the coup, there is an overwhelming consensus that Conde’s much-decried third term was his ultimate downfall.
The idea is that Conde’s fall of grace began with the perception that the once lionized and Mandela-like figure was now another perpetrator of third-termism and self-entitled African dictator.
In the first video statement announcing the toppling of President Conde, Colonel Doumbouya said:
“Fellow Guineans, the dire political-situation of our country, the instrumentalization of the judiciary, the non-respect of democratic principles, the extreme politicization of public administration, as well as poverty and corruption… have compelled the army, through the Committee of National Rally and Development (CNRD), to take its responsibility.”
In a subsequent statement that has garnered positive reactions from Guineans, he quipped: “Guinea is a beautiful woman that has been raped for years. It is time to genuinely start making love to her.”
Conde was the first legitimately elected president in the country after over sixty years of various autocratic dictators controlling Guinea.
