Guinea’s political elite has once more been rendered powerless by an army whose leaders owe their survival to a political system built upon confusion and fear.Though many political actors had long hoped for a coup to end Lansana Conté’s regime and the political impasse it generated, it is highly unlikely that the military junta which seized power last week will relinquish control and lead Guinea into a stable democratic era.

While the latest coup is a logical outcome of the socio-political situation of recent years, it is also a result of an inter-generational conflict within the army itself. There have been tensions for some time between an old military guard, which wanted to remain faithful to the “army unity pact” promoted by Conté, and a younger generation of opportunistic officers who have been seeking a platform from which to assert their authority.

But at the same time the coup and the absence of any substantial resistance to it highlights the complexity of Guinea’s political landscape.Since the early days of independence, Guinea has seemed trapped in political ambivalence, in which hopes are repeatedly raised then dashed. In all three major historical landmarks of the last 60 years – Ahmed Sékou Touré’s “1958 No” to French rule and his ensuing term in office; the failed democratic transition in the 1990s which followed the 1984 coup in which Lansana Conté came to power; and the January 2007 popular revolt initiated by the trade unions – the incompetence of the political class, including the opposition, has made the army a disturbingly destabilising factor.

In 2007, what began as a protest for better working and living conditions turned into a call for political reforms in Guinea which reflected the popular rejection of a regime that had failed dismally to improve living conditions. When the unions and political leaders reached a deal to end the crisis, one of the major concerns of Guineans was whether in the volatile environment of West Africa, the authorities would lead the country into an era of better governance.

After more than a year, there is consensus that the process has collapsed and that there are many challenges to establishing a democratic political process. When President Conté died, the question was whether his death, combined with the changing context brought about by social forces since January 2007, would break the political impasse without generating violence. But hardly had news of his death broken when the army again took control with a fallacious promise of a new transition.

It seems that at each time there is glimpse of hope, Guinea’s political elite is outclassed by forces over which it has little or no control. A review of the three major historic periods in Guinea’s political trajectory helps to make sense of the current political crisis.

Sekou Touré’s historic decision to reject the integration of his country into metropolitan France was saluted across the continent and paved the way for independence in 1958. With his anti-imperialist stand and pan-Africanist vision, Sekou Touré’s Guinea presented an image of radical experimentation in social and political development, and throughout his rule Guinea occupied a special position among African states.

Sekou Touré promised prosperity and dignity to Guineans. But a combination of external and internal factors compromised his leadership and forced him to resort to violence to survive. Internally, his regime was characterised by extreme repression, motivated by fear of assassination plots. Externally, it was isolated from the West and relied heavily on Soviet aid for development projects. But the aid was never sufficient to ensure that the basic needs of Guineans were met.

His political legacy is now a matter of controversy: like Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, he is celebrated as a hero for his stance on colonialism and his rhetoric on indigenous development, but blamed by many of his countrymen for failing to live up to the promise of independence by laying the foundations for sustainable development.

Ahmed Sekou Touré’s death in 1984 opened a new chapter, marking the first attempt at transforming the political system from autocratic rule to a pluralistic democratic system. At first, the bloodless military coup that brought Lansana Conté to power initiated an era of limited political restoration. Political prisoners were released and about 200,000 Guineans returned from forced exile. This was followed by some initiatives aimed at liberalizing the political and economic environment and improving relations with the West.

But the illusion did not last long. Within a few months, Lansana Conté reverted to authoritarian rule. His troops arrested and executed potential political rivals accused of plotting a coup. The victims included Conté’s close ally and then prime minister, Colonel Diarra Traoré.

The next attempt at political reform came with the 1990s wave of democratisation across Africa. When pressure from the street became unbearable, Conté introduced a quasi-democratic multiparty system – more to lure development partners than to respond to his people’s demand for accountability and improvement of socio-economic conditions.

Despite complaints by the opposition over the credibility of the electoral processes, Lansana Conté stood for the 1993 presidential elections and, amid controversies, was declared the winner with 51.7 percent of the vote. To further the reform process – or at least to give that impression – he appointed Sidya Touré, a technocrat, as his prime minister to liberalize the economy, reduce corruption, channel resources to local development initiatives and poverty alleviation. But he frustrated the prime minister’s efforts and his re-election in 1998 with 56.1 percent of the vote is best interpreted as the consolidation of his dictatorship and the failure of the democratic reform process.

Conté’s repressive rule continued unabated from that point. He dismissed Sydia Touré and entrusted most key government positions to members of his ethnic group (the Soussous) and party (The Parti de l’Unité et de Progrès –PUP). The five other prime ministers who have served since 1984 have either been subservient or were dismissed before they could implement reforms which might expose the scandals of the regime.

With the 2001 amendment of the constitution that removed term and age limits for presidential candidates, it became clear that there was little hope of an end to Conté’s regime. Many opponents, including Alfa Condé, leader of the main opposition party, the Rally of Guinea People (RPG), were repeatedly detained without trial. In 2003, Conté won another election, boycotted by the overwhelming majority of voters, this time around with 95.6 percent of the votes.

The popular riots of January 2007 marked the third decisive moment in Guinea’s political trajectory. The appointment of Lansana Kouyaté, former executive director of the Economic Community of West African States and former under-secretary general of the United Nations, raised hopes for political stability. But it did not in any shape or form guarantee the end of Conté’s system.

Kouyaté was quite capable of leading Guinea into a new socio-political era. But the country lacked the ingredients which experience has shown are necessary if countries are to achieve more or less acceptable political transitions in Africa. While the union leaders who took the initiative in demanding change succeeded in negotiating the terms of the transition, they failed to assess carefully enough the difficulty of implementing the agreement in a hostile political environment. Also, political parties failed to seize the opportunity to consolidate the concessions obtained by the unions by insisting on legal and constitutional changes to reinforce reform.

Prime Minister Kouyaté was unable to act without the authority of presidential decrees. These were often delayed by Conté or manipulated by hardliners within the ruling party, placing a major obstacle in the way of the Kouyaté and his cabinet. Once again, Guineans were misled by empty promises of good governance and a better life.

Twenty-four years after the coup that brought Lansana Conté to power, Guinea’s political elite has again pledged allegiance to a military junta that promises a return to constitutional rule in 2010. There is some evidence for cautious optimism that the anti-corruption stance of the new junta may bear fruit. But the new military authorities are progressively consolidating their control, inspired by the recent coup in Mauritania and confident that the African Union and the international community will not go beyond the rhetoric of condemnation.Fear has once again been deployed as a tool to induce a government to surrender, while citizens hoping to see some improvements to their living conditions will have to wait. The question is whether this will take another two decades of military rule or whether there is hope for democratic reform. In Guinea, as elsewhere in Africa, military coups hardly serve the interests of a coherent democratic political order.

The African Union (AU) has suspended Guinea from taking part in all AU activities until the country returns to civilian rule under the constitution.The AU’s Peace and Security Council said in a statement issued from its headquarters in Addis Ababa that a meeting of the council held on Monday had reiterated its “firm condemnation” of the coup, which was “a flagrant violation of the Constitution of Guinea and of the relevant AU instruments.”

The council demanded that Guinea “return to constitutional order,” the statement said, and suspended the country under AU legislation dealing with unconstitutional changes of government.

The AU said it was coordinating its efforts to return Guinea rapidly to civilian rule with the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas). It added that the chairman of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, was already in touch with with the perpetrators of the coup.

The death of Guinea’s head of state, Lansana Conté, from diabetes on Monday has brought about a military rebellion against the constitution – a situation that, if not carefully handled, could escalate into a military confrontation.The president’s death, at the age of 74, was announced overnight on Monday by the president of the National Assembly, Aboubacar Samparé, accompanied by the military chief of staff, General Diarra Camara, and the Prime Minister, Ahmed Tidiane Souaré. They called on the president of the Supreme Court to note the vacancy in the presidency and to apply the relevant provisions of the constitution. They also appealed for calm from the population.

The constitution stipulates that in case of a vacancy in the presidency, or the incapacity of the president, affairs of state must be taken over by the president of the National Assembly, who is required to organize fresh elections within 60 days.

Show of force

The late president committed the sin of not handing over power according to the constitution. Despite his age and his deteriorating health, he chose to be president for life, heading a government characterised by mismanagement and ill-considered control of the affairs of state. Incapable of handling state affairs, he created a vacuum at the helm. Meanwhile, the barons of the regime censored information about the president’s health.

In matter of fact, the army has controlled matters of state for many years. It is within this context that the men in uniform decided to rebel against the constitution barely a day after the Conté’s death. According to Agence France-Presse, on December 23 an army captain announced on radio the dissolution of the government and the institutions of the republic and the suspension of the constitution.

Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, reading from a communique on Radio Conakry, said: “As from today, the constitution has been suspended as well as political and trade union activities.” He declared that “the government and all institutions of the Republic have been dissolved,” adding that a consultative council comprising “civilian and military” officials will soon be established.

The army captain, who until now has headed the fuel department of the army, indicated the “profound disappointment of the population” at the state of the country and accused the government of being responsible.

But the army is far from united. There is a deep division between those close to the chief of staff and the rest of the army.

The risk of confrontation

One cannot help but think that in this race for power, caused by a vacuum at the helm, there is a risk of a military confrontation in which innocent civilians will, as always, be the victims.

In the current circumstances, the unarmed opposition will need to exhibit political maturity and a sense of patriotism to permit the electorate freely to elect a successor to Conté. ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, can also help Guinea through a smooth transition and the organization of a free and transparent election.

While President Conté may have gone, the people of Guinea will have a difficult time forgetting an era of dictatorship, poverty and mismanagement.

Biographical details

President Lasana Conté was born in Moussayah Loumbay, not far from Conakry. He was from the Soussou ethnic group, which constitutes about 20 percent of the 9.6 million inhabitants of Guinea, and was the son of a peasant. After completing his course on the Koran, he was trained in Bingerville, in Côte d’Ivoire, and Saint-Louis, in Sénégal.He joined the army in 1955 and later quit the French army as a sergeant when Guinea achieved independence in 1958. He came to power through a coup on April 3 1984, a week after the death of the “father of independence,” Ahmed Sékou Touré. Conté’s health has been in decline since 2002 and he took up residence in his village of Wawa, 80 kilometres north of Conakry, but was bent on holding onto power until the end of his mandate in 2010. Unfortunately his 24 years of power has come to an end in this West African state.

The Confederation of Africa Football has unveiled the shortlists for the Glo-CAF Awards 2008. CAF Director of Communications, Sulemana Habuba also announced innovations in the event with the aim of making it prestigious. The Media and Technical Committees nominated the shortlists for the two awards.The innovation Habuba said had led to the creation of the Glo-CAF Best Player on the Continent and the Glo-CAF Best Player across the World, according to cafonline.

The continental award will be decided by votes from coaches of the group phase clubs of the CAF-MTN Champions League whilst the coaches of the 53-National associations affiliated to CAF, voting for the best player across the world.The shortlist for the Glo-CAF Best Player on the continent are Mohamed Aboutreika (Al- Ahly, Egypt), Ahmed Hassan (Al-Ahly, Egypt), Flavio Amado (Al-Ahly, Angola), Tresor Mputu Mabi (T.P. Mazembe, DR Congo) and Stephen Worgu (Enyimba, Nigeria).

Mohamed Aboutreika (Al-Ahly, Egypt), Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal, Togo), Amr Zaki (Wigan Athletic, Egypt), Didier Drogba (Chelsea, Cote d’Ivoire) and Michael Essien (Chelsea, Ghana) make up the shortlist for the Glo-CAF Best Player across the world.The final three of the two categories will be named before the Awards Gala fixed for Cotonou, Benin in December 2008.Ms. Gladys Telavi, Executive Director of Legal Services of Globacom assured of her outfit’s commitment to the development of football on the continent by making the event memorable.This is the fourth time the Nigeria-based cellular giants will be sponsoring the annual event since 2008.Mali’s Frederic Kanoute won the flagship award held in Togo last year.

Africa has sufficient agricultural potential to become a food basket for the whole world, President Museveni of Uganda said. He said the continent could solve the current food crisis if the relevant production interventions are undertaken during the launch of the P4P at the United Nations.Purchase 4 Progress (P4P) is an initiative of the World Food Programme (WFP) which aims at transforming the way WFP purchases food in developing countries by giving priority to small scale farmers to sell their surplus produce to WFP at competitive prices while giving the food to those who have little or no food at all.According to a press release from the state house in Uganda, the programme which will initially target 21 countries, Uganda inclusive, aims at helping farmers to earn reasonable income and predictable market for their produce. It will initially target 350,000 households over a period of 5 years.The WFP is supported by the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffet Foundation.President Museveni launched the programme jointly with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, Rwandese President Paul Kagame and the WFP Executive Director Mrs. Josette Sheeran.President Museveni said that 67% of the farmers in Sub-Sahara Africa have been practicing subsistence agriculture and not fully utilizing the region’s agricultural potential. He said that with the current food shortage in the world, it was time for African farmers to engage in commercialized agriculture and produce food beyond their subsistence needs. He, however, noted that interventions in terms of irrigation, the use of fertilizers and other forms of modern agricultural practices need to be emphasized to enable the region produce optimally.Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete welcomed the programme saying that it would help unlock the potential of farmers in rural Africa since they will be assured of the market for their produce. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda lauded WFP for its support to his country. He said that the organization has responded to the feeding needs of over 54,000 people in Rwanda. He also hailed their support through the School Feeding Programme and welcomed the Purchase 4 Progress Programme saying it was an appropriate intervention.Ms. Josette Sheeran, the Executive Director of WFP, said that in addition to purchasing their produce, WFP would facilitate farmers with modern farm inputs, equip them with modern agricultural skills to boost the quality and quantity of their output.Mr. Bill Gates and Mr. Howard Buffet said they were committed to helping farmers in the developing world to better their incomes because they constitute a large part of the poorest of the poor in the world. They said that they committed their organizations to supporting Purchase 4 Progress Programme because its objectives are in line with the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.

Corruption has significantly improved in Nigeria and Mauritius over the last year, according to the Transparency International`s 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The southern African country ranked 41 out of 180 countries with a score of 5.5 out of 10. Nigeria (2.7) jumped from 180 to 121.The CPI measures the perceived levels of public-sector corruption in a given country and is a composite index, drawing on different expert and business surveys. The 2008 CPI scores 180 countries (the same number as the 2007 CPI) on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean).According to the report released on Tuesday in Berlin, Botswana leads the league table of top 10 least corrupt African countries at the 36th position with a score of 5.8. Mauritius closely followed then Cape Verde at 47th spot with a mark of 5.1. Africa’s fourth went to South Africa at the 54th slot with a score of 4.9, Seychelles gained 55th and bagged 4.8 and then Namibia landed at the 61st position after scoring 4.5.Others are Tunisia (62) with a score of 4.4, Ghana ranked 67 and scored 3.9, Swaziland (72) and attained 3.6 followed by Burkina Faso at 80th position after it obtained a mark of 3.5.However, Somalia (180), Sudan (173), Chad (173), Guinea (173) topped the top 10 corrupt countries on the continent scoring 1.6 each but Somalia which managed only 1.0. Equatorial Guinea (171) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (171) followed them with a score of 1.7 each. On top of them was ailing Zimbabwe, which is lying at the 166th position and scored 1.8. The remaining medals for the other three corrupt countries went to Gambia (158), Angola (158) and Guinea-Bissau (158) after all three scored 1.9 each.On the global scene, Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden share the highest score at 9.3, followed immediately by Singapore at 9.2. Bringing up the rear is Somalia at 1.0, slightly trailing Iraq and Myanmar at 1.3 and Haiti at 1.4, according to TI website. The global anti-corruption watchdog said while score changes in the Index are not rapid, statistically significant changes are evident in certain countries from the high to the low end of the CPI. Looking at source surveys included in both the 2007 and 2008 Index, significant declines can be seen in the scores of Bulgaria, Burundi, Maldives, Norway and the United Kingdom. Similarly, statistically significant improvements over the last year can be identified in Albania, Cyprus, Georgia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey.

Cheap and high-speed web access via satellite will be provided to millions of people in Africa and other emerging markets by 2010. Google and Europe’s biggest bank HSBC partnering with cable operator Liberty Global would provide the services. Three billion people are to benefit from the project.A group called O3b Networks – stands for the “other 3 billion” people who do not have access to the internet – are helping to roll out the project. Reuters reports say the project will provide high-speed backhaul for telecoms’ operators and Internet providers, which can then sell services to businesses and consumers.South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel hailed the project at a conference in Germany on Monday. “The information gap is very real and clearly whatever we can do to close it must be encouraged,” Manuel told a news conference in Berlin on the U.N.-backed Millennium development goals.”Any initiative that can leapfrog over traditional means of getting information to people must be encouraged. Information is power and it supports democracy and it supports decision-making.”O3b networks said in a statement the satellites would be constructed by Thales Alenia Space and should be operational by the end of 2010. The company’s founder, Greg Wyler, told Reuters coverage would reach from Spain to South Africa, include most of South America, large parts of Asia and all South Pacific Islands. The project intends to offer fibre performance over satellite to parts of the world where it is not commercially viable or practical to deploy a fibre network.Because its satellites orbit earth at lower altitudes than those used to beam TV signals to homes, they work better for Internet access where latency — the amount of time it takes for bits of information to travel from source to destination — is an issue, Wyler said.The project is expected to cost $650 million until the launch, he said. Initial equity of $65 million has been raised, but the final mix of debt and equity has not been set. In some parts of the world, the company will compete with fibre-optic cables currently under construction — for instance, over a dozen cables have been announced connecting Africa to Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Malawian girls are too short in height to feature in one of Africa`s top talent search shows according to media reports. The scouting session for the M-Net Face of Africa began on Wednesday but the contestants did not meet the specified minimum height of 1.72 metres and a maximum hip measurement of 96cm.The judges for the sessions said they were looking for an X factor which most of the contestants in Malawi did not have. “The X factor is something you cannot describe but we know it when we see it,” said judge Andiswa Manxiwa.By 12pm on Wednesday, about 50 girls had auditioned in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe but less than five had made it into the next round, a local newspaper Daily Times reported.After the sessions, 24 finalists will be selected to participate in a Model Boot camp which is to be held in Zanzibar, Tanzania where the top 10 will then be selected. The finalists will then head into this year’s glittering Face of Africa finale set to be screened live on DStv in over 40 countries across Africa. It will take place on November 29.Face of Africa is a pan-African talent search showcasing Africa’s beauty and style. The winner of the contest is expected to walk home with US$ 50,000 in cash. Apart from the cash, the winner is also expected to land herself a modeling contract with Oluchi’s O Model Africa Agency.Some of the countries participating include Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Mozambique, Uganda, Zambia, Ghana and Malawi.

Zain, one of the top mobile firms in Africa is said to have invested about US$ 12 billion this month for its re-branding campaign in Africa. The firm is among the fastest growing on the continent. It also changed its name early this month from Celtel to Zain and also adapted new colours.

According to Zain’s chief executive officer, Saad Al Barrack, the firm’s investment in its African operations beats direct aid from United States, China and European Union respectively.According to a report from Malawi’s local daily of the Nation, the rebranding of Zain from Celtel is part of bringing together their African and Middle East operations under a single and unique identity.The chief executive officer further said that the mobile firm had injected in US$ 2.5 billion for networks and infrastructure development in its existing markets.

The report quoted Barrack who was in Kenya recently as saying Kenya was one of the countries where Zain has spent more money and that its operations were expected to consume about US$ 1 billion in the next five years.In the Southern African country of Malawi, the mobile firm will pump in US$ 91 million between this year and next year towards upgrading and other services.Zain according to a media report serves up to 50 million customers in 22 countries of Africa and Middle East.In Malawi Zain has faced competition from another mobile firm TNM. The two recently introduced cheaper cell phones.

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