Africa

Guinea’s new Junta Leader, Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya

On Sunday, September 5, 2021, Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, a commander of the elite Guinean Special Forces and former French legionnaire announced a coup to overthrow Professor Alpha Condé, the President of Guinea.

He declared not on national television but in a video that the Guinea army has taken power in Guinean capital, Conakry.

The Guinean military junta wasted no time by naming itself the “National Rally and Development Committee”, to quickly consolidate its grip on power.

But, who is Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, Guinea’s new strongman?

Lt. Col. Mamady Doumbouya, is the commander of the Special Forces Group (GPS) of Guinea has taken over the reign of power in the West African country bordering Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire, is a trained commando having attended the School of Application of the Infantry (EAI) training course for unit commanders at the French Army Legion to the Guinean GPS in Senegal.

He was recalled to Guinea in 2018 to head the elite corps created in 2018: the Special Forces Group (GPS), a legionnaire of the French army that he left to answer the call of his country.

According to the head of the Directorate of Information and Public Relations of the Guinean Army (DIRPA/Guinea) during the Independence Day of Guinea in 2018, Commander Mamady Doumbouya, at the head of the hooded uniformed men “can identify and defuse risky situations by remaining calm in the face of a hostile environment and extreme pressure.

He adapts and improvises to any situation that requires self-control, risk assessment and rapid decision-making,” says Aladji Cellou.

Lt Col Doumbouya is a certified officer of the War College, with more than fifteen years of military experience, including operational missions in Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Central African Republic and close protection in Israel, Cyprus, United Kingdom and home country, Guinea.

According to the Guinean press, Major Mamady Doumbouya has successfully completed the Operational Protection Specialist Training at the International Security Academy (Israel), the Unit Commanders Training Course at the Ecole d’application de l’infanterie (EAI – Senegal), the Staff Officer Training Course (EEML Libreville, Gabon) and the Ecole de Guerre de Paris, France .

But, his setbacks with Conakry began in October 2018, with his desire to empower the Special Forces Group from the Ministry of Defense which aroused mistrust of the power of Conakry in May, in which unfounded rumors of his possible arrest had even circulated in the Guinean capital. He is originally from the region of Kankan, the second-largest city in the Republic of Guinea, after the capital Conakry, and the largest in terms of surface.

This red beret is a Malinke, a West African people present mainly in Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso and Lt. Col. Doumbouya has been the head of the Groupement des forces spéciales (GPS), an extremely trained and equipped elite army unit, since 2018.

Guinea has been in the grip of a deep political and economic crisis for months. President Alpha Conde’s candidacy for a third term on October 18, 2020, led to months of tension before and after the election, resulting in dozens of deaths in a country accustomed to bloody political confrontations. The election was preceded and followed by the arrest of dozens of opponents.

Human rights activists criticize the authoritarian drift of the last few years of the Conde presidency, which has undermined the gains of the early years. -afrinik

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