Soldiers in the West African nation of Guinea detained President Alpha Conde on Sunday after hours of heavy gunfire rang out near the presidential palace in the capital, then announced on state television that the government had been dissolved in an apparent coup d’etat.
The country’s borders were closed and its constitution was declared invalid in the announcement read aloud on state television by army Col. Mamadi Doumbouya, who told Guineans: “The duty of a soldier is to save the country.”
“We will no longer entrust politics to one man. We will entrust it to the people,” said Doumbouya.
The happenings in Guinea have raised lots of questions and fears in some African countries.
Executive Director of the Institute For Liberty Innovation (ILAPI) Bismark Peter Kwoffie commenting on the issue on Ahotor Fm assured Ghanaians that such thing can’t happened in Ghana currently.
He said the happenings in Guinea which led to the coup is different from what is happening in Ghana and the coup in Guinea could have been avoided.
Mr Kwofie said structural violence was the main reason for the coup, coupled with internal security wrangling between Duombouya and the Defense Minister and comparing it to what we have in Ghana is different but can lead to something bad.
“Structural violence can’t cause conflict or coup in Ghana but can cause a youthful revolution or different uprising organised by the youth but nobody can try a coup in Ghana”, he said.
Bismark Peter Kwoffie noted that, former President of Guinea Alpha Conde could have avoided the coup by listening to Mamadi Doumbouya on salary restructuring that most of the people were not happy about.
“Alpha Conde could have avoided this coup if he listened to Doumbouya on salary restructuring for the Special Forces and brought back force from the country side back to the capital Conakry”
Mr Kwoffie again said the Defence Minister of Guinea reduced the salaries of some security agencies which was met by huge opposition but was not addressed by the then President Alpha Conde and that he believes moved Col. Mamadi Duombouya to do the coup.
The soldiers who seized power in Guinea during the weekend have consolidated their takeover with the installation of army officers at the top of Guinea’s eight regions and various administrative districts.
West African countries have threatened sanctions following the overthrow of President Alpha Conde, who was serving a third term after altering the constitution to permit it, which his opponents said was illegal. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc will hold a virtual extraordinary summit to discuss the situation on Wednesday.
Coup leader Mamadi Doumbouya, a former officer in the French Foreign Legion, has promised a “new era for governance and economic development”. But he has not yet explained exactly what this will entail, or given any deadline.
Emmanuel Romeo Tetteh/ Ahotoronline.com
