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Members of the Guinean armed forces cross the central district of Kaloum, Conakry, on September 5.
Guinean activist Mohamed Djala Jalloh said Guinean citizens do not believe in the sub-regional body of ECOWAS.
According to him, this is because the 15-member regional political and economic union kept watch while President Alpha Condé ruled the country in a way that challenged the Constitution and their democracy.
Speaking on Top story, said Mr. Jalloh, “the population has no belief in ECOWAS, because of what has been happening on the ground so far for over a year now since Alpha Condé took power in during this third term here. People don’t believe in ECOWAS and the way they do their things.
His comment comes after ECOWAS scheduled a virtual emergency meeting on Wednesday, September 8 to discuss events in Guinea.
Although the meeting, chaired by President Akufo-Addo (Ghana) ended earlier today, ECOWAS did not immediately issue a statement on its decision to return Guinea to a constitutional regime. Meanwhile, there are rumors that ECOWAS will impose sanctions on Guinea, including closing neighboring borders and demanding an immediate return to civilian rule.
However, Mr. Jalloh believes that the Guinean people see a lot of effort being made to right the wrongs of President Alpha Condé.
He revealed that the army, which has taken power, plans to release 711 people wrongly imprisoned without trial, under President Condé.
He said already 80 people have been released from prisons to reunite with their families, with many Guineans celebrating the release of some activists who have been in prison for around six months or more.
Mr Jalloh said: “The process will continue in the next few days as they have to check the papers and analyze all the papers before releasing some of the prisoners.”
Background
On Sunday September 5, soldiers staged an uprising in Conakry, the capital of Guinea.
In a short broadcast on state television, Guinean army officer Mamady Doumbouya said they had dissolved the constitution and government of the West African state.
This followed unverified videos shared on social media, apparently showing President Alpha Condé surrounded by soldiers. Its whereabouts are unclear.
This was after previous reports of heavy gunfire in Conakry, near the presidential palace, although it is not clear who was responsible.
After seizing the airwaves, the mutinous soldiers vowed to restore democracy. Colonel Mamady Doumbouya sat draped in a Guinean flag with half a dozen other uniformed soldiers by his side as he read the statement, declaring: “The duty of a soldier is to save the country.
“The personalization of political life is over. We will no longer entrust politics to one man, we will entrust it to the people, ”said Doumbouya, adding that the constitution would also be dissolved and borders closed for a week.
Although the democratic government of Guinea led by President Alpha Condé has been overthrown by the army, the country is not in chaos.
This is according to two Guineans who spoke anonymously on PM Express from JoyNews Monday September 6.
They said on Monday that Guinea was characterized by the jubilation over the military takeover that many international media networks called a coup.
“The situation is calm. People rejoiced all day. People are happy with the coup even though they don’t call it a coup. The whole population is delighted and jubilant.
The reason for the celebration, it has been said, is that the citizens viewed the Condé administration as a kind of oppression.
Following the uprising, ECOWAS on Sunday condemned the arrest by the Guinean army of President Alpha Condé.
A statement from the sub-regional bloc called the instability an attempted coup and demanded the “unconditional release” of Condé and his associates.
The statement also demanded “a return to constitutional rule, failing which sanctions will apply”.
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