The people of Conakry, the capital town of Guinea, woke up to confusion and pandemonium as Groupement des forces Spéciales take over the country in a seemingly coup d’etat.
It all started with heavy gunfire in the strategic district of Kaloum which houses the Presidential Palace on Sunday, September 5, 2021. Guinean President Alpha Conde was reportedly unharmed by the gunfire, but his exact whereabouts are still unclear.
The elite unit of the army which is said to be the brain behind this coup is led by a certain Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, identified as a former legionnaire of the French army who returned to the country in 2018.
Colonel Mamadi is a soldier often described as a ‘hothead’ because of his back and forth with the Minister of Defense over his desire to lead the special forces group which he once led for four years.
Meanwhile, Colonel Mamadi Doumboya claims the President has been arrested and the Guinean government has been dissolved.
The composed Colonel, draped in a national flag, said in a broadcast on state television that the country’s borders have been closed and that a transitional government will soon be formed.
“The personalization of political life is over. We will no longer entrust politics to one man. We will entrust it to the people,” Colonel Mamadi Doumboya said in the broadcast.
However, the fate of Guinea’s President Alpha Condé is unclear after a video confirming the words of Colonel Mamadi circulating showed him in the hands of soldiers, who in the video said they have staged a coup.
In the video, the soldiers from a unit of elite special forces ask President Condé to confirm he is unharmed but he refuses to respond.
Soldiers are patrolling the otherwise deserted streets of the city. Terrified residents of the central Kaloum district have heeded their orders to stay at home.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that all land and air borders have been closed and the government dissolved.
The only bridge connecting the mainland to the Kaloum Peninsular, which houses most ministries and the Presidential palace, has been sealed off and many soldiers, some heavily armed, have been posted around the palace.
There are also unconfirmed reports that three soldiers have been killed.
Alpha Condé thus, faces his umpteenth coup attempt. Since his re-election in 2020, for a third term, he has faced permanent instability on the political, social and security levels.
However, in a statement, Guinea’s defense ministry claimed that the Presidential guard and security forces “has contained the threat and repelled the group of assailants.”
“Security and sweeping operations are continuing to restore order and peace,” the statement said.
President Condé was re-elected for a controversial third term in office amid violent protests last year. The opposition accused Condé of twisting the constitution to favour his third term bid. The latest development has sparked a nation wide jubilation confirming that the President has become unpopular in Guinea.
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