About 21 people have been killed in unrests in Guinea following last week’s controversial presidential election, state television reported, as international envoys attempt to calm situations in the West African country.
President Alpha Condé, 82, according to official results declared on Saturday (24 October), won a keenly contested 18 October election, setting the stage for a controversial third term.
Cellou Dalein Diallo, 68, his main opponent, however, contends the results. He claimed victory last week, referencing data collated by his supporters at individual polling stations.
Diallo’s self-proclaimed victory led to a week of clashes between the security forces and his supporters across the country.
Conflicting figures of fatalities
The RTG state news channel said that 21 people, including security forces operatives, had been killed since 19 October. The figure is six less than that compiled by the opposition which argues that 27 lives have been lost.
The government had previously pegged the number of those killed at 10.
“In my neighbourhood, people say they are waiting to see the outcome of the joint mission,” said a suburban resident who wanted not to be named.
Marks from the unrest were visible in the Conakry neighbourhood of Wanindara – an opposition stronghold – with burned-out vehicles lying on the sides of the road.
Mohammed Saliou Camara, whose house was torched, said Conde and Diallo’s supporters had clashed in the area.
Anti-Conde protests were due to resume in the city early on Monday (26 October) and many shops stayed shut, but few people ended up hitting the streets in the end.
Swift intervention
Meanwhile, a diplomatic delegation from the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union and the United Nations (UN) arrived in Guinea on Sunday (25 October) in the wake of the unrest.
The delegates – who include Mohammed Ibn Chambas, the UN special representative to West Africa and Jean-Claude Kassi Brou ECOWAS Commission met many government officials and ministers.
An ECOWAS official in Conakry said they also spoke with foreign diplomats and representatives of Guinea’s Electoral Commission. Diallo told AFP news agency that the envoys met with him at his Conakry home, which has been barricaded for days by the police.
To a great extent, the upheaval centres on a disputed third term for Alpha Conde, whom the opposition accuse of becoming an authoritarian.
Conde pushed through a new constitution in March 2020 which he claimed would modernize the country, this constitution also allowed him to get around a two-term limit for presidents.
Nana Abena Boakye-Boateng
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