Alpha Conde detained as military seizes power in Guinea

A Guinean army colonel yesterday announced that President Alpha Conde’s government had been toppled hours after heavy gunfire was heard near the presidential palace in Conakry, the capital.

A screengrab taken from footage sent to AFP by a military source on September 5, 2021 shows the President of Guinea Conakry Alpha Conde after he was captured by army putschists during a coup d’etat in Conakry on September 5, 2021. – Turmoil engulfed the impoverished west African nation of Guinea again on September 5, 2021 as army putschists said they had captured the president and staged a coup, and the government insisted it has repelled the attack. “We have decided, after having taken the president, to dissolve the constitution,” said a uniformed officer flanked by soldiers toting assault rifles in a video sent to AFP. (Photo by – / MILITARY SOURCE / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / MILITARY SOURCE” – NO MARKETING – NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Mamady Doumbouya, head of the elite national army unit, said the president was in custody.

The colonel accused Conde’s government of “trampling of the rights of citizens” and disrespecting “democratic principles”.

“The personalisation of political life is over. We will no longer entrust politics to one man, we will entrust it to the people,” Doumbouya said.

The colonel said the land borders had been closed and the government dissolved.

In a viral video circulating on social media, Conde was seen being asked by one of the soldiers if he had been brutalised but the president did not respond.

In spite of the development, Guinea‘s defence ministry insists that the uprising has been quelled.