Niël Terblanché
THE Government of Namibia has condemned the coup d’état in Guinea and is following with great concern the continued detention of President Alpha Condé by special forces units of the West African country’s army.
Guinean special forces on Monday seized power, arrested Professor Condé, and promised to change the political makeup of Guinea.
The new military leaders announced a nationwide curfew and closed all borders, confining the movement of people and goods.
Lieutenant-Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, the head of Guinea’s military special forces, appeared on national television draped in the national flag on Monday evening and stated that the government’s continued mismanagement of the country and its resources prompted the coup d’état.
The Namibian Government in a statement issued by the Executive Director of the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, Ambassador Penda Naanda, expressed its strong disapproval of the lack of respect for the legitimate and democratically elected President of Guinea and called upon the military to respect the rule of law and the return to civilian rule.
“Namibia also calls upon the citizens of Guinea not to resort to violence in addressing their concerns,” Ambassador Naanda said.
Ambassador Naanda assured the people of Guinea of Namibia’s unwavering support for the principle enshrined in the AU Constitutive Act, of condemning and rejecting unconstitutional changes of government.
President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo in his capacity as the Chairman of the African Union, and the head of the AU’s executive body, former Chadian Prime Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat, also decried the seizure of power in Guinea and called for President Condé’s unconditional release.
“Namibia aligns herself with the statements issued by President Tshisekedi, and that of the Chairperson of former Prime Minister Mahamat, and also repeats their call for the Peace and Security Council to address the coup d’état as a matter of urgency,” Ambassador Naande said.
President Condé, a former opposition leader himself who was at one point imprisoned and sentenced to death, became Guinea’s first democratically elected leader in 2010.
He was re-elected in 2015.
He survived an assassination attempt in 2011.
In recent years, however, he has been accused of drifting into authoritarianism.
The revolt follows a long period of political tension in Guinea that was set off by President Condé’s decision to change the country’s Constitution that allowed him to stand and be elected for a third presidential term in 2020.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), through its acting President, Ghana’s head of state, Nana Akufo-Addo, threatened sanctions if Guinea’s constitutional order was not restored.
Ambassador Naande said Namibia joins the international community in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of President Condé, and the return to constitutional order.
