CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) – A Guinea army colonel seized control of state television airwaves on Sunday and announced that President Alpha Conde’s government had disbanded hours after a fort erupted. shot near the presidential palace.
Conde’s whereabouts were not immediately known and Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya made no mention of the 83-year-old president, whose popularity has plummeted since he sought a third term last year.
“The personalization of political life is over. We will no longer entrust politics to a single man, we will entrust it to the people, “said Doumbouya, who added that the constitution was also dissolved and that land borders were now closed.
IT’S A NEWS UPDATE LATELY. The previous AP story follows below.
CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) – Strong gunfire erupted in the early hours of Sunday near the presidential palace in Guinea’s capital and continued for hours, witnesses said, raising security concerns in a West African nation. with a long history of captures of military power and attempted coups.
The Defense Ministry later said the presidential guard and other security forces had “contained the threat and repelled the group of assailants.”
“Security and sweeping operations continue to restore order and peace,” the statement said.
However, the statement could not be independently confirmed and there was no immediate comment from President Alpha Conde. State television carried music and other programs, but made no mention of the shots that had echoed through the Conakry neighborhood all morning in Kaloum.
Conde has faced continued criticism since calling for a third term last year, saying the two-term limit did not apply to him due to a constitutional referendum he had tabled.
He was eventually re-elected, but the movement sparked violent street demonstrations in which the opposition said dozens died. Conde, 83, could now stay in power until 2030 if he wins again in 2025.
He came to power for the first time in 2010 in the country’s first democratic elections since France’s independence in 1958. Many saw his presidency as a fresh start for the country, which has been mired in decades of corrupt and authoritarian government. .
Opponents, however, say it has failed to improve the lives of Guineans, most of whom live in poverty despite the country’s vast mineral wealth.
In 2011, he narrowly survived an assassination attempt after gunmen surrounded his home overnight and hit his bedroom with rockets. Rocket-propelled grenades landed inside the compound and one of its bodyguards died.
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Associated Press writer Krista Larson contributed to this report from Dakar, Senegal.