The United Nations, the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have unanimously condemned Sunday’s coup which toppled President Alpha Conde in Guinea.
The three international organizations did not wait long to react to the situation in the Republic of Guinea. On Sunday morning, the ‘Groupement des Forces Speciales’ (GFS), under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, a former French army legionnaire, attacked the Sekhoutoureya presidential palace.
The soldiers broke into a room where they filmed 83-year-old Alpha Conde sitting on a couch, surprised by the course of events.
Shutting himself up in a deafening silence, looking lost in jeans and a half-unbuttoned shirt, the deposed head of state was arrested and taken to an undisclosed location.
A situation that exasperates the leaders of international organizations, first and foremost Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations.
“I am personally following the situation in Guinea very closely. I strongly condemn any government takeover by force of arms and call for the immediate release of President Alpha Conde,” the Portuguese diplomat tweeted.
The African Union and its Commission also reacted in a joint statement calling for “the immediate release of President Alpha Conde.
In addition, Felix Tshisekedi and Moussa Faki Mahamat “invite the Peace and Security Council of the African Union to meet urgently to examine the new situation in Guinea and to take appropriate measures to the circumstances.”
Also at the sub-regional level, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has followed the recent political developments in Conakry “with great concern. Like the two previous organizations, the one led by Ghanaian President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo calls for the “immediate and unconditional release” of Condé, “as well as that of all arrested officials.
Although the leader of the coup plotters, Mamady Doumbouya, has stated in front of the international media that the deposed president is in good health, ECOWAS still demands “respect for (his) physical integrity. It also calls for the restoration of “constitutional order, or failing that, penalty of sanctions.
But the leaders of the coup, gathered in the National Committee for the Rally and Development (CNRD), do not seem to be heading in this direction, if their leader’s first statement is anything to go by.
While announcing the dissolution of the Constitution, Mamady Doumbouya, wearing a red beret, sunglasses and wrapped in a Guinean flag, assured that they will “rewrite a constitution together, this time, (for) all of Guinea.
The new strong man of Conakry, who has an impressive physique, denounced the “mismanagement” and deplored the fact that there have been “many deaths for nothing, many injuries, many tears” that have flowed especially during last October 2020 presidential election in which Alpha Conde, in power since 2010, was re-elected in a bloodbath for a third contested term.
ODL/id/fss/abj/APA