This post discusses the political history of Guinea, starting from the western empire to the colonial era, independence and politics of Guinea.
The modern state of Guinea did not come into existence until 1958, but the history of the area stretches back well before European colonization. Its current boundaries were determined during the colonial period by the Berlin Conference (1884–1885) and the French, who ruled Guinea until 1958.
WEST AFRICAN EMPIRES
What is now Guinea was on the fringes of the major West African empires. The Ghana Empire is believed to be the earliest of these which grew on trade but contracted and ultimately fell due to the hostile influence of the Almoravids. It was in this period that Islam first arrived in the region.
Read: POLITICAL HISTORY OF SOMALIA
The Sosso kingdom (12th to 13th centuries) briefly flourished in the void but the Islamic Mandinka Mali Empire came to prominence when Soundiata Kéïta defeated the Sosso ruler, Sumanguru Kanté at the semi-historical Battle of Kirina in c. 1235. The Mali Empire was ruled by Mansa (Emperors), the most famous being Kankou Moussa, who made a famous hajj to Mecca in 1324. Shortly after his reign the Mali Empire began to decline and was ultimately supplanted by its vassal states in the 15th century.
The most successful of these was the Songhai Empire, expanding its power from about 1460, and eventually surpassing the Mali Empire in both territory and wealth. It continued to prosper until a civil war over succession followed the death of Askia Daoud in 1582. The weakened empire fell to invaders from Morocco at the Battle of Tondibi just 3 years later. The Moroccans proved unable to rule the kingdom effectively, however, and it split into many small kingdoms.
COLONIAL ERA
Guinea’s colonial period began with French military penetration into the area in the early to mid-19th century, as France replaced Portugal as the dominant European power in the region. The French exerted control by building forts and occupying coastal towns, then gradually expanding inland. The French Empire first administrated the territory as part of its Senegalese colony, later establishing the colony of Rivières du Sud in 1882 and finally the colony of French Guinea in 1891. French domination was assured by the defeat in 1898 of the armies of Samori Touré, the Mansa (or Emperor) of the Ouassoulou state and leader of Malinké descent, whose defeat gave France control of what today is Guinea and adjacent areas.
INDEPENDENCE (1958)
In 1958 the French Fourth Republic collapsed due to political instability and its failures in dealing with its colonies, especially Indochina and Algeria. The founding of a Fifth Republic was supported by the French people, while French President Charles de Gaulle made it clear on 8 August 1958 that France’s colonies were to be given a stark choice between more autonomy in a new French Community and immediate independence in the referendum to be held on 28 September 1958.
The other French colonies chose the former but Guinea — under the leadership of Ahmed Sékou Touré whose Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG) had won 56 of 60 seats in 1957 territorial elections — voted overwhelmingly for independence. The French withdrew quickly, destroying infrastructure and equipment along the way, and on October 2, 1958, Guinea proclaimed itself a sovereign and independent republic, with Sékou Touré as president.
POLITICS OF GUINEA
Politics of Guinea takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Guinea is both head of state and head of government of Guinea. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly.
POLITICAL HISTORY
CONTÉ ERA (1984–2008)
A military dictatorship, led by then-Lt. Col. Lansana Conté and styling itself the Military Committee of National Recovery (CMRN), took control of Guinea in April 1984, shortly after the death of independent Guinea’s first president, Sékou Touré. With Conté as president, the CMRN set about dismantling Touré’s oppressive regime, abolishing the authoritarian constitution, dissolving the sole political party and its mass youth and women’s organizations, and announcing the establishment of the Second Republic. The new government released all political prisoners and committed itself to the protection of human rights. In order to reverse the steady economic decline under Touré’s rule, the CMRN reorganized the judicial system, decentralized the administration, promoted private enterprise, and encouraged foreign investment.
2008 COUP AND FOLLOWING
Six hours after Somparé announced Conté’s death, a statement was read on television announcing a military coup d’état. This statement, read by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara on behalf of a group called National Council for Democracy, said that “the government and the institutions of the Republic have been dissolved”. The statement also announced the suspension of the constitution “as well as political and union activity”. In its place, the military said it had established a consultative council composed of civilian and military leaders.
On 27 September 2009, the day before planned demonstrations in the capital city Conakry, the government declared demonstrations illegal. Thousands of protestors defied the ban, assembling in a soccer stadium. 157 were left dead after the level of violence used by security forces escalated.[9] Captain Moussa (Dadis) Camara told Radio France International on 28 September the shootings by members of his presidential guard were beyond his control. “Those people who committed those atrocities were uncontrollable elements in the military,” he said. “Even I, as head of state in this very tense situation, cannot claim to be able to control those elements in the military.”
On 3 December 2009 Captain Moussa Dadis Camara suffered a head wound in an attempted assassination in Conakry led by his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Aboubacar Sidiki Diakité, who is known as Toumba. Captain Camara underwent surgery at a hospital in Morocco. Reports say Toumba’s men opened fire on Captain Camara late Thursday at an army camp in the city of Conakry.
After a meeting in Ouagadougou on 13 and 14 January, Camara, Konaté and Blaise Compaoré, President of Burkina Faso, produced a formal statement of twelve principles promising a return of Guinea to civilian rule within six months. It was agreed that the military would not contest the forthcoming elections. On 21 January 2010 the military junta appointed Jean-Marie Doré as Prime Minister of a six-month transition government, leading up to elections.
2010 ELECTIONS
Alpha Conde became the first freely elected president in the country’s history in 2010
The presidential election was set to take place on 27 June and 18 July 2010, it was held as being the first free and fair election since independence in 1958.
The first round took place normally on 27 June 2010 with ex-Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo and his rival Alpha Condé emerging as the two runners-up for the second round. However, due to allegations of electoral fraud, the second round of the election was postponed until 19 September 2010. A delay until 10 October was announced by the electoral commission (CENI), subject to approval by Sékouba Konaté. Yet another delay until 24 October was announced in early October. Elections were finally held on 7 November. Voter turnout was high, and the elections went relatively smoothly.
16 November 2010, Alpha Condé, the leader of the opposition party Rally of the Guinean People (RGP), was officially declared the winner of a 7 November run-off in Guinea’s presidential election. He had promised to reform the security sector and review mining contracts if elected.
2013 VIOLENCE
In February 2013, the Guinean opposition party announced it would be stepping down from the electoral process due to a lack of transparency over the company used in registering voters. Calling on citizens to protest nationwide, the ensuing week saw multiple clashes between police and protesters, resulting in at least nine deaths, some of those due to live fire from security forces.
The protests were also a result of the previous months’ political wrangling between Condé’s administration and the opposition; minor protests were quelled on the street, and opposition supporters were arbitrarily arrested, prompting the resignation of two Guinean opposition ministers in September 2012. This month also saw the opposition parties announce their stepping down from the National Transitional Council, which is effectively an interim parliament, and that they would also boycott the national electoral commission. The president of the national electoral commission, Louceny Camara, also stepped down due to pressure from the opposition over his relationship with President Condé; Camara was rumored to be his ally and a key figure in the president’s rumored attempts to pre-rig the legislative polls.
The week after the protest saw another minor clash between protesters and security forces after a march to mark the funerals of the deceased was dispersed by tear gas and gunfire.
On 7 March 2013, the government postponed the 12 May election date indefinitely until the political tension eased and preparations for free and fair elections could be established.
Despite the election postponement, President Condé ordered a crackdown on those responsible for the violence, and on 10 March, a Guinean court ordered opposition leaders to appear at a hearing scheduled for 14 March, in which they would be questioned for their role in organizing the protests. Former Prime Minister Sidya Toure branded the summons as an “illegal procedure for what was an authorized march” and a “manipulation of justice for political ends”.
2020 CONTROVERSIAL ELECTIONS
In October 2020, president Alpha Condé won presidential elections. Condé had been in power since 2010 and he won the third term. Opposition did not accept the results because of allegations of fraud. The president said a constitutional referendum in March 2020 allowed him to run despite a two-term limit. After the election there were violent protests across the country.
2021 COUP
Following a military coup on 5 September 2021 the government was dissolved, borders closed, constitution suspended and President Condé was arrested. On 1 October 2021 Mamady Doumbouya was sworn in as Guinea’s interim president after leading the coup.
ETHNIC POLITICS
President Alpha Condé derives support from Guinea’s second-largest ethnic group, the Malinke.
Guinea’s opposition is backed by some of the Fula ethnic group, who account for around 33.4 percent of the population.