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| Guineans celebrating the removal of Alpha Conde by the military |
Conakry, Sept 7 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Lieutenant-colonel Mamady Doumbouya, the high-ranking officer behind Guinea-Conakry’s military coup promised to set up a unity government to oversee a transition period and vowed there would be no “witch hunt” against the former government.
“A consultation will be launched to set down the broad parameters of the transition, and then a government of national union will be established to steer the transition,” Doumbouya said in a speech, but he did not say how long the consultation or the handover would last.
Seeking to reassure mining investors a day after the military seized power, Doumbouya also said the country would honour its business commitments.
A committee set up by the junta assures “economic and financial partners that activities in the country are continuing as normal,” he said.
“The committee assures partners that it will respect all its undertakings,” he said.
Impoverished and volatile, the West African state was hit by fresh turmoil on Sunday when special forces arrested 83-year-old President Alpha Conde, declared they were scrapping the constitution, and imposed a curfew.
Land borders have been shut, the government dissolved and top governors and other senior administrators have been replaced by the military, the junta said.
The end of Conde’s regime triggered jubilation in some parts of Conakry, especially in pro-opposition districts.
Discontent had been growing for months over a flatlining Covid-hit economy and the leadership of Conde, who became Guinea’s first democratically elected president in 2010.
Five years later, he was re-elected — but in 2020 he sparked fury after ramming through changes to the constitution enabling him to sidestep a two-term limit.
Doumbouya appeared on public television on Sunday draped in the national flag, accusing the government of “endemic corruption” and “trampling of citizens’ rights”.
He promised to launch a “national consultation to open an inclusive and calm transition.” — NNN-AFRICANEWS
