APA – Conakry (Guinea) – The chief of staff of the Guinean armed forces has clarified several decisions taken by the transitional president.
By Aboubacar Siddy Diallo
This is very unusual! The Chief of Staff of the Guinean Armed Forces gave an interview on national television. It was an unprecedented interview in which General Sabiba Coulibaly responded to the actions of the junta leader in recent days.
On the disbandment of the presidential security battalion, General Coulibaly said that it was “an administrative formality,” recalling that under Lansana Conte (1984-2008) this unit was called the Autonomous Battalion of Presidential Security.
The army chief of staff added that after the death of General Conte, the country’s new authorities, led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, created the Commando Regiment, which replaced the BASP. Following the assassination attempt on Moussa Dadis Camara by his top aide Toumba Diakité, General Sékouba Konaté transferred this regiment to the Sarmoreya camp to form the Standby Commando Battalion of the African Standby Force.
Following the inauguration of President Alpha Conde in 2011, the Presidential Security Battalion was created to ensure his security until 5 September 2021, the officer explained.
“From 5 September 2021, the presidential protection missions were transferred to the Special Forces group,” he said.
Since then, the presidential security battalion, which no longer has an official mission, has been stationed at kilometre 36, in the prefecture of Coyah.
“When the borders with neighbouring countries were opened, there was a case-by-case assessment of the risks we were taking by opening them. In the end, one of the main recommendations was that we needed to increase the number of troops (along the borders). That’s when the elements that make up the BSP were deployed along the borders and in some units,” the officer added.
Since then, the Presidential Security Battalion (BSP) has been a unit that in fact no longer exists. But administratively, only a decree can cancel a decree, because of the parallelism of forms.
“The decree establishing the BSP has not been repealed until now. The units continued to be listed administratively under the title of BSP. It was time to put an end to this situation. That is why this decree was issued. It is simply an administrative regularisation. Nothing more, nothing less,” said General Sadiba Koulibaly.
The Guinean army chief also spoke about the president’s dismissal of the head of the peacekeeping training centre in Kindia.
“There has been a theft of weapons (at the Peacekeeping Training Centre). A lot of weapons disappeared from the CMP armoury. When something like this happens anywhere in the world, the first person responsible is the commander of the unit… he was punished because he failed in his responsibilities,” the army chief explained.
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