Guinea election candidates allege fraud

Supporters of the third placed candidate in Guinea’s presidential election have taken to the streets of the capital in protest at his expulsion from the run-off ballot. The protesters defied a Government ban on demonstrations as they claimed ex-prime minister Sidya Toure was cheated out of a top two place in the 27 June election that would have earned him a place in the run-off on 18 July. 3,000 people – mostly women marched in front of the electoral commission and the Supreme Court offices in Conakry chanting "Sidya was cheated" and "we want Sidya for the second round" before being sprayed with tear gas. (photo: UK Reuters)

Toure finished third in last month’s poll which was generally believed to be the first free election in Guinea’s 50 year history. Toure picked up 16 percent of the vote and was pipped by another former PM Cellou Dalein Diallo who took 40 percent and Alpha Conde who took 21 percent. Toure claims the second-placed Conde “stuffed the ballots” in his party’s stronghold area which prevented Toure from finishing second. Toure released a statement saying results from several polling stations and constituencies were manipulated in favour of Conde. Many of the other losing 21 candidates and their parties also alleged irregularities in what is becoming a depressingly familiar story for African elections.

The news came as US President Obama congratulated the country on holding its first election since independence from France in 1958. Obama said many people feared the country become unstable again after the 28 September massacre last year of people protesting against the then military leader Moussa Dadis Camara. “The Guinean people, however, demonstrated extraordinary courage and determination to pull their country out of crisis, and to chart a new course toward a democratic future,” said Obama. “They were supported by the leadership of Interim President General Sekouba Konate, who has focused intensely and urgently on transitioning the country to civilian rule.”

After Camara was deposed in December, Konate flew back from exile in Lebanon to take over. Konate was widely praised for overseeing a free and fair vote last month with a near 80 percent turnout. On Tuesday however, he announced he was resigning as chairman of the transition and asked the contact group and the international community to appoint a new president to lead it. Though he was eventually talked out of it, Konate was angry at accusations of fraud against him brought by Toure’s supporters. It required a phone call from Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade to convince him to stay in power until the end of the presidential election and the proclamation of the final results.

The run-off poll is bound by the constitution to be held on 18 July. But given the delay in announcing the results of the first round, the run-off may be delayed to give more time to fix deficiencies in technical expertise in the stretched electoral commission. Provisional results from the earlier election were delayed because of logistical, transport and security difficulties. Losing candidates also had eight days from Monday to lodge formal complaints with the Supreme Court, which will rule on the validity of the election within another three days. But the delay is unlikely to help Toure’s cause despite his protesting women. Election observers from the EU and the Carter Centre said they were broadly satisfied with the vote saying irregularities were caused by logistical problems. It will take a lot longer however to fix problems caused during the decades of mismanagement under the dictator Lansana Conte who died in December 2008.

Guinea's wounded coup leader to stay in exile

Hopes of a return to civilian rule in the West African nation of Guinea rose with the news that former leader Moussa Dadis Camara will stay in Burkina Faso. Camara has been in temporary exile since an assassination attempt six weeks ago. Yesterday he signed a deal yesterday with Guinea’s new interim leader General Sekouba Konate agreeing to the establishment of an interim government and elections in six months. The deal bans the military from running in the election and gives Konate time to return the country to civilian rule, with the support of the US and France.

The news came despite calls yesterday from senior Guinean army officials for Camara to return home. Members of the 42-man junta which supported Camara’s ascension to power a year earlier have released a statement rejecting Konate’s concern that Camara’s return would jeopardise the restoration to civilian rule. The statement supported Konate’s call for a rapid transition "but we encourage and ask for the quick return of Capt Moussa Dadis Camara to Conakry,” the statement read. “We are recommending that Gen Sekouba Konate bring him back."

The statement shows that Camara still has powerful friends in Guinea. The army captain seized power in 2008 after the death of long-term dictator Lansana Conté. Initially his rule was mostly greeted with relief as he seemed sure to be better than his deeply corrupt predecessor Conté, who had just died after 25 years in charge. But optimism faded as Camara reneged on promises to hold an election. On 28 September he sent in security forces to smash up a peaceful mass opposition rally in the capital Conakry. The government had banned the protest but it went ahead anyway. When tens of thousands marched into a football stadium, police and soldiers opened fire. At least 157 people died. Eyewitnesses and medical personnel told Human Rights Watch many protesters were riddled with bullet holes. Others had stab wounds from knives and bayonets. Many women were stripped naked and sexually assaulted.

Camara blamed errant officers but the world community was outraged by the attack. The Economic Community of West African States imposed an arms embargo on Guinea. Former colonial power (and still a wielder of great local influence) France also cut military ties. The AU and the EU imposed travel bans and froze bank accounts owned by the 42 members of Camara’s junta. The US also imposed a travel ban but has not frozen accounts. The ICC also began an investigation and had delegates to Guinea at the time of Camara’s shooting.

Exactly what happened on 3 December is shrouded in mystery but it would seem that Camara was shot by his own aide-de-camp. The New York Times quotes communications minister, Idrissa Cherif who said Camara was shot in a confrontation with the commander of the presidential guard, Lt. Abubakar Toumba Diakité. Diakité was also believed to be the top army officer involved in the September atrocity so he may have felt he was about to be sacrificed to the ICC so that his boss could keep his job. Camara survived the attack but was flown to Morocco for treatment. He moved to Burkina Faso last week.

Guinea, resource-rich and desperately poor, has been plagued since independence in 1958 by authoritarian, brutal, and corrupt regimes. The country of ten million is rich in bauxite and gold. The Economist reported in November it is likely to earn $7 billion in return for mineral and oil rights recently granted to a Chinese company. But this money is unlikely to benefit the poor. Instead a clique of elite bureaucratic and military leaders will fight over the right to access the spoils, as they have done since 1958. In November, The Economist feared a civil war may be inevitable due to splits in the junta. The assassination attempt has done little to dash those fears. The next few months will be a test of Sekouba Konate’s strength of character.

Massacre in Guinea: Putting down the bauxite rebellion

Guinean army forces have massacred over 150 unarmed people who were protesting on Monday against the country’s unelected leader. The head of the military Moussa Dadis Camara leads the Western African country. He seized power in a coup following the death of longtime dictator Lansana Conté in December. Protests broke out in the capital Conakry after it seemed likely that Camara would stand as a candidate in a presidential election postponed to January. Opponents are demanding he honour a longstanding pledge to stand aside and transition Guinea to civilian rule (photo of arrest in Conakry by AFP via Al Jazeera).

Though Camara has not formally declared his candidacy, his supporters have been actively promoting his chances. They were allowed a peaceful rally on Saturday in the city of Labe. But when the opposition tried to launch their rally on Monday, all hell broke loose. Political and civil society leaders had called the rally at Conakry’s main football stadium two weeks ago but authorities banned the meeting.

Despite the ban, thousands assembled at the 25,000 seater stadium pushing past military to gain entrance to the ground. They carried placards reading "No to Dadis" and "Down with the army in power" before police eventually stopped the crowds from gaining entry. Suddenly soldiers drove into the stadium. They descended from their vehicles and shot first into the air. Then they began to open fire on demonstrators and beat them up.

By the middle of the afternoon Donka Hospital in Conakry had admitted hundreds of people with bullet wounds and injuries from beatings. A number of women taking part in the demonstration were stripped naked and sexually assaulted by security forces who also went on a looting rampage across town. The usual suspects such as the UN, the EU, the AU and the US all expressed their condemnation of the massacre but none are likely to act against what is usually deemed "a domestic matter". Of more interest is the attitude of the the international mining companies who stand to make large amounts of money in the country.

Guinea has the world’s largest concentration of bauxite (aluminium ore) with 30 percent of the world’s reserves. US Giant Alcoa in partnership with Canadian Alcan have exclusive rights to mine bauxite in Guinea's Sangaredi Plateau. Together they run Cie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG) the world’s largest bauxite mine. Bauxite is used in cement, chemicals, face makeup, soda cans, dishwashers, siding for houses, and other aluminum products and is highly profitable industry for the two multi-nationals.

But Guinea’s relationship with the Russian giant UC RUSAL is not so healthy. Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska’s company are in a row with a Guinean court which has taken ownership of a mine away from them. The court cancelled the sale in 2006 of the Friguia refinery which UC RUSAL had bought for $20 million, far below independent valuations of $250 million. Russia is claiming the refinery is now their legitimate property.

Rio Tinto is also in trouble with Guinea. It is still challenging a decision the government made last year to take away control of an important iron ore project. Government told Rio its licence to mine has been rescinded. The mine at Simandou is one of the world's largest undeveloped iron ore deposits, with the potential to generate more than $10 billion a year. The mine is crucial to Rio to ward off takeover threats from BHP Billiton and analysts say Guinea’s move is an attempt to get a better bargaining position at a vulnerable time for the buyer.

But the latest protests have made Guinea vulnerable too. Camara is playing for high stakes. Though the country remains an economic basket case, he and his cronies can earn millions in company kickbacks. But he needs the big companies to stay. If he cannot control the streets they will take their mining dollars elsewhere. For Guinea’s millions of desperately poor neither outcome will help them much.

Talks hope to end Guinea army revolt

Talks are progressing in the Western African republic of Guinea in an effort to end a military revolt by junior army officers. It was the second time in 12 months, the army has revolted for the second time in 12 months over pay. Guinean soldiers claiming years of unpaid wages captured their own chief-of-staff and took to the streets of the capital Conakry in a repeat of their May 2007 protest over the same issue. While the government has agreed to their pay demands, the sticking point now is over rebel demands for the removal of senior officers they accused of theft and corruption.

The revolt began late last month when paratroops and special forces in the country’s largest military base of Alfa Yaya Diallo, near Conakry international airport, unloaded their weapons before seizing the army's second-in-command General Mamadou Sampil after he came to try to negotiate with them. Locals also heard gunfire at Kindia army garrison 130km inland. Civilians took cover in their homes to avoid stray bullets. The precautions were warranted as several civilians were killed and dozens more wounded by stray bullets shot into the air. The mutineers looted shops and homes of military commanders, but made no serious attempt to take over government installations.

After an emergency meeting on Monday last week at the presidential palace, Guinean president Lansana Conté issued a statement which was read out on state television. Conté, whose own background is military, called for calm and asked for the soldiers to open dialogue and negotiations. When that statement had no effect, a panicking Conté fired his defence minister in an effort to appease his mutinying troops. The dismissal of Bailo Diallo was one of their demands but it is not clear if that satisfied the rebels. Shortly after the decision to sack Diallo, an unnamed military official said shots were at the army’s central HQ at Camp Samory where President Conté and his wife were in hiding.

Conté said he would refuse to deal with the rebels until they released the hostages they were holding at Alfa Yaya Diallo including General Sampil. On Sunday they met with military commanders and made some progress in talks on a pay deal. The 15-member regional Economic Community of West African States said the Guinea crisis "put at risk the safety and security of the civilian population and poses a grave threat to the fragile peace" in the region. The crisis also threatens the long-term rule of Conté himself.

Lansana Conté has ruled Guinea for 24 years. Incredibly he is one of only two men to have led the country in the 50 years since independence from France in 1958. Conté has survived several coups and assassination attempts. The biggest threat to his stranglehold on power was a general strike nationwide strike in January 2007. Conté was forced to appoint an independent Prime Minister, Lansana Kouyaté, to end the strike. Last month, Conté sacked Kouyaté to end an uneasy power-sharing arrangement.

While Kouyaté had been a disappointing PM, news of his dismissal triggered some disturbances and protests. But matters really took a turn for the worse when the soldiers intervened. They claimed Kouyaté promised them back pay and began to threaten their superiors. When the replacement prime minister Ahmed Tidiane Souaré, (a former Conté aide) paid the first instalment on their arrears, it merely emboldened junior military officers to sack all the top brass. The initial violence was followed by a four day stand-off with gunfire resuming again on the weekend.

Aid agencies in Guinea have reduced their operations to a minimum as they await the outcome of the ongoing military dispute. UN resident representative Gasarabwe Mbaranga said they were monitoring the situation and have advised staff to stay at home. "We already have tight security levels in place in the city and have not changed them," she said. But medical staff from Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) remain on duty bringing medicine and equipment to Conakry’s hospitals to help hospital staff treat the wounded. Many people in Guinea now fear the worst: an all-out civil war between troops led by emboldened junior officers and forces loyal to the aging Conté.

Riots in Guinea aim to topple dictator

Thousands have rioted in cities in Guinea as union leaders vowed to resume a crippling general strike to oust the president and his newly appointed prime minister. Unions say the President Lansana Conté is no longer fit to rule after 23 years in power and want to see an independent leader installed. 14 people were killed on the weekend when protests erupted across the West African country after Conté named a close ally Eugene Camara as premier. "We have decided to restart the strike from Monday," said union negotiator Boubacar Biro Barry. "We demand the departure without preconditions of the prime minister named by the president who absolutely does not meet the profile we outlined."

The days to come promise to be the strongest test yet of Conté’s long-term leadership. In the 50 years since independence, Guinea has had only two men at the helm. Ahmed Sékou Touré led the country out from under the wings of its French colonial past. In 1958, Guinea was the only colony to reject a French referendum to accept a new constitution. Guinea became independent but lost all French assistance. Touré survived an invasion from exiles in neighbouring Portuguese Guinea-Bissau. He took Guinea down a Socialist one-party path. By the time of his death in 1984 life expectancy in Guinea dropped to 40 years, business nearly evaporated and the capital Conakry was in a shambles.

Lansana Conté had the task of fixing up the mess. A former French Army volunteer and a hero in repelling the Portuguese invasion, he rose through the ranks of the Guinea military to become army chief-of-staff. After Touré died, he launched a military coup to take control of the country. Conté launched a series of economic reforms which attracted foreign investment back into the country. In the 1990s, the country started a slow move towards democracy. Conté won a presidential election in 1993 with 51% of the vote despite allegations of fraud. He survived a military coup three years later and won two more elections in 1998 and 2003, the latter with 95% of the vote after an opposition boycott.

Guinea has the world’s largest concentration of bauxite (aluminium ore) with 30% of the world’s reserves. The largest bauxite mine in the world belong to Cie des Bauxites de Guinée's (CBG) whose operations are located in the west of Guinea, close to the border with Guinea-Bissau. The company is now run by Alcoa through a venture with Canada's Alca. Yet despite the foreign exchange generated by CBG the country remains an economic basket case.

In 2000 Guinea was overwhelmed by almost half a million refugees fleeing fighting in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The country could not cope with the influx and Guinea’s economy went into freefall. The diabetic and chain smoking Conté was hospitalised in Morocco and many thought his reign was over. But he returned to face dissatisfaction when riots broke out over the price of rice and fuel. At least 20 people died as the armed forces crushed the dissent. In 2006, the German NGO Transparency International judged Guinea to be among the most corrupt countries in the world along with Iraq, Myanmar and Haiti.

At the start of this year, the country erupted in strikes and riots once more. Unions claimed that Conté was now too old and erratic to govern. Once again, the army retaliated and killed three people. On 22 January 22, troops under the command of President Conté 's son ransacked the strike headquarters and beat up union leaders. In response tens of thousands marched in the streets of Conakry and at least 17 people were killed and 100 injured by police.

Now people in Conakry are stocking up on supplies in anticipation of another strike. Union and opposition leaders say the Prime Minister-elect Camara is too cosy with the ailing president, and too weak to lift Guinea out of corruption and poverty. It is likely the army will support Camara and launch another bloody repression of the unrest. The streets are now empty as the country prepares for the worst.