By Spy Uganda correspondent
West Africa’s main regional bloc has suspended Guinea’s membership, days after a military coup that removed President Alpha Conde.
READ ALSO: Just In: Army Oust Guinea’s President Alpha Conde, Dissolve Constitution & Entire Gov’t
During an extraordinary virtual summit on Wednesday, leaders from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) demanded a return to the constitutional order and the immediate release of Conde, who was arrested by special forces led by Lieutenant Colonel Mamady Doumbouya on Sunday.
The ECOWAS leaders also agreed to send a high-level mission to Guinea as soon as Thursday.
“At the end of that mission, ECOWAS should be able to re-examine its position,” Alpha Barry, Burkina Faso’s foreign minister, told reporters in Ouagadougou after the meeting.
The bloc’s decision comes after the coup sparked broad diplomatic condemnation, but was also met jubilation in some parts of the capital, Conakry, where residents turned out on the streets to applaud passing soldiers.
READ ALSO: Guinea Elections: 82-Year-Old Alpha Condé Seeks Another Term Amidst Deadly Opposition Protests
The 83-year-old became the first democratically elected president in 2010 and was re-elected in 2015. But last year, Conde pushed through a constitutional change to allow himself to run for a third term, a move his opponents said was illegal. Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara also won a third term last year after changing his country’s constitution.
ECOWAS was criticised at the time by activists for remaining silent about Conde and Ouattara’s third-term bids.
Elsewhere in the region, Mali’s military staged coups in August 2020 and then again in May this year. ECOWAS condemned the coups and temporarily imposed sanctions. It said on Tuesday it was concerned that Mali’s transitional government had not made sufficient progress towards organising elections next February as promised.
Prisoner Releases
Doumbouya, Guinea’s coup leader, has pledged to install a unified, transitional government but has not said when or how that will happen.
In an apparent gesture to Conde’s civilian opponents, at least 80 political prisoners were released on Tuesday evening, many of whom had campaigned against the constitutional change.
Doumbouya also met the heads of Guinea’s various military branches for the first time on Tuesday, hoping to unify the country’s armed forces under the coup makers’ command.
Guinea’s main opposition leader, Cellou Dalein Diallo, who finished runner-up to Conde in three successive elections, said on Tuesday that he would be open to participating in a transition back to constitutional governance.
In a statement on Tuesday evening, Conde’s party said it “noted the advent of new authorities at the head of the country” and called for the president’s swift and unconditional release.
Since the coup, life in the streets of Conakry appears to have returned to normal, with some military checkpoints removed.
