By Ebi Kesiena
A day after collapsing the government in the West African state of Guinea, soldiers have summoned Ministers and top government officials to a meeting on Monday, after a coup which drew international condemnation.
Elite troops led by Lieutenant-colonel Mamady Doumbouya, told outgoing ministers and institutional leaders to gather at Parliament in the capital, Conakry.
According to Doumbouya, any refusal to attend the meeting will be considered a rebellion.
Impoverished and volatile, the West African state was hit by fresh turmoil on Sunday when Special Forces arrested 83-year-old President Alpha Conde, declared they were scrapping the constitution and imposed a curfew.
Land borders have been shut, the government dissolved and top governors and other senior administrators have been replaced by the military.
Discontent had been growing for months over a flat lining Covid-hit economy and the leadership of Conde, who became Guinea’s first democratically elected president in 2010.
Five years later, he was re-elected, but in 2020 he sparked fury after ramming through changes to the constitution enabling him to sidestep a two-term limit.
Doumbouya appeared on public television on Sunday draped in the national flag, accusing the government of “endemic corruption” and “trampling of citizens’ rights”.
“We are no longer going to entrust politics to one man, we are going to entrust politics to the people,” the coup leader said.
“Guinea is beautiful. We don’t need to rape Guinea anymore, we just need to make love to her,” he added.
He promised to launch a “national consultation to open an inclusive and calm transition.”
