Mamady Doumbouya: The army colonel behind the Guinean coup

Colonel Mamady Doumbouya on Sunday announced the dissolution of Guinea President Alpha Conde’s government after an elite army unit led by him seized control of state television. Doumbouya was born in the Kankan region of Guinea and was a French legionnaire before he returned to the West African nation in 2018 to lead the Special Forces Group, an elite military unit  created by Conde, according to Africa 24. An alumnus of French military academy Ecole de guerre-Terre,  Doumbouya was chosen for the job due to fifteen years of military experience which included operational missions in Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Central African Republic and other assignments in Israel, Cyprus, and the United Kingdom.

He has also received training at the International Security Academy in Israel and the Infantry Application School in Senegal.

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Earlier on Sunday, heavy gunfire was reported near the presidential palace in Guinea‘s capital for hours, blamed by the Defense Ministry on a “group of assailants.” The presidential guard and other security forces had “contained the threat” and security and sweeping operations were underway to restore order and peace, the ministry said.

Doumbouya issued a broadcast on state television, declaring that ‘The National Committee of Gathering and Development’ was going to restore democracy in the country. Wearing sunglasses and a red beret, Doumbouya was seen draped in a Guinean flag alongside soldiers as he vowed to “save the country.” Doumbouya said Conde had been detained but didn’t reveal the whereabouts of the 83-year-old leader. He announced that the constitution would be dissolved and borders closed for one week.

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Doumbouya said he was acting in the best interests of the nation of over 12.7 million people, citing the lack of economic progress  since Guinea’s independence from France in 1958. “If you see the state of our roads, if you see the state of our hospitals, you realize that after 72 years, it’s time to wake up,” he said. “We have to wake up.”

 “The personalization of political life is over. We will no longer entrust politics to one man, we will entrust it to the people,” Doumbouya said, referring to Conde’s hold over power after he sought a third term last year.