Guinea President Alpha Condé has made the widely expected decision to officially seek re-election during the country’s elections on October 18 after he accepted the nomination by his party, Rally of the Guinean People (RPG-Arc-En-Ciel).
The RPG put out a statement reading: “We have the immense privilege and joy of informing the Guinean population that (Conde) has granted our request: President Alpha Condé will be our candidate.”
The 82-year-old leader is seeking a third five-year term in office after amending the constitution to allow him to skirt the previous two-term limit. He became the country’s first democratically elected leader in 2010, after the tumultuous dictatorships of Lassana Conté, who ruled from 1984 to 2008, and Ahmed Sékou Touré, who ruled from 1958 to 1984. However, since entering office, it has become clear that the same economic mismanagement and corruption that plagued previous administrations are still rife under the current leadership. In fact, there are fears that, like Touré and Conté, the current president will also seek to rule the country until his death.
Although the country has huge mineral deposits, years of poor governance have left the country reeling from poverty. Guinea is the biggest producer of bauxite and has giant reserves of iron ore, boasting the Simandou reserve, which holds over two billion tons of ‘high-grade’ ore and is the “largest known deposit of its kind”.
Condé was nominated by the RPG back in August, but had thus far not formally accepted the nomination. Now that he has done so, he becomes the second African leader in recent weeks to declare his intention to run for a third five-year term despite constitutional restrictions preventing this. A few weeks earlier, Ivory Coast’s Alassane Ouattara made a similar decision after earlier stating his intention to step aside and respect constitutional term limits.
In July, when the government first hinted that Condé would seek a third term in office, violent protests erupted, leading to dozens of deaths at the hands of security forces. At the forefront of these protests was the coalition of political opposition, the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC). Military and paramilitary forces responded with brutal force, while opposition leaders were jailed.
After Monday’s announcement by the incumbent president, it is anticipated that these protests will once again flare up.
Guinea President Officially Accepts Nomination to Seek Third Term in Office
He earlier amended the constitution to allow himself to circumvent the two-term limit.
September 2, 2020
Guinea President Alpha Condé SOURCE: HENRY NICHOLLS / REUTERS