The coup staged in Guinea on 5 September, ousting President Alpha Conde, has pushed the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to suspend the country from their activities.
Guinea’s ruling military came under diplomatic pressure on Friday as the African Union suspended the country over last weekend’s coup. West African envoys arrived to mediate in the crisis, met ousted President Alpha Condé and said he was in good health.
The recent decision taken by AU followed a similar move made by ECOWAS on the issue. During a virtual summit, the 15-member regional bloc had demanded a return to constitutional order and Alpha Conde’s immediate release.
The 83-year-old became his country’s first democratically elected president in 2010 and was re-elected in 2015. But last year, Conde pushed through a constitutional change to allow himself to run for a third term, a move his opponents said was illegal. Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara also won a third term last year after changing his country’s constitution.
All this happened, with ECOWAS remaining silent, an act considered inappropriate by opponents of the two regimes in question. Activists say this has contributed to West Africans’ loss of faith in democracy and made military coups more likely.
Doumbouya, Guinea’s coup leader, has pledged to install a unified, transitional government but has not said when or how that will happen.
