Guinea military government leader enters presidential race

Mamady Doumbouya, the head of Guinea’s military-dominated government, has formally entered the presidential election and submitted his candidacy for the December 28 elections intended to restore constitutional order following the general’s 2021 coup.

On Monday, Doumbouya was greeted by special forces as he arrived at the West African nation’s Supreme Court in an armored vehicle accompanied by special forces. Without making a statement, he left.

Thousands of his supporters gathered outside the court and chanted, “Mamady champion, Mamady president, Mamady already elected,” as they had busted to Conakry’s capital.

When he came to power in 2021, Doumbouya, 40, promised to run. However, his candidacy was facilitated by a new constitution that the military administration had proposed and approved in a referendum in September.

Following the coup, arrangements were made that prohibited members of the military government from running elections. Additionally, candidates for president must be between the ages of 40 and 80 to reside in Guinea.

Former president Alpha Conde, 87, the country’s first freely elected president who lives abroad, and former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, 73, who is in exile over corruption allegations that he denies, would stand in for two potentially powerful candidates.

Former prime minister Lansana Kouyate and former foreign minister Hadja Makale Camara are among the candidates who have submitted applications and are qualified to stand.

The Living Forces of Guinea (FVG) alliance, which criticized Doumbouya’s candidacy in a statement released on Monday, claimed he had violated his “solent commitments” and that his decision to not run for president had been a “dead turning point in our country’s history.”

Former French colony of Impoverished Guinea, which has 14.5 million inhabitants, has long been a victim of coups and violent government actions.

Following the election of Conde in November 2010, it went through a democratic transition, before Doumbouya oversaw his overthrow in September 2021.

Doumbouya has significantly restricted freedoms since gaining power.

Numerous opposition leaders have been arrested, prosecuted, or forced into exile by the military government, some of whom have been victims of forced disappearances.

Additionally, journalists have been detained and several media outlets have been suspended.