Why, six months after 73-year old Alpha Condé's inauguration as President, is Guinea-Conakry helter-skeltering into violence?
He pledged so much but has delivered so little. President Condé has reneged on pre-election pledges to rid the country of corruption. Surrounded by an entourage of "specialists in kleptomania", as Aziz Diop, Secretary General of Guinea's National Council of Civil Society Organizations told AFP, his advisers are mainly the place-men of Lansana Conté who ran Guinea as a fiefdom from 1984 until 2008.
Long-time political opponent, Condé won the first free election for half a century, against all predictions. So much was expected from what was envisaged as an enlightened presidency, yet the people are now disorientated it seems.
Guinea is rich in minerals, but so long as the injustices perpetrated by previous regimes stay unchallenged, the people remain in limbo. No promised Truth and Reconcilation Commision has materialised, and Alpha Condé appears at sea and out of touch. Compensation has to be awarded to the victims of past ills, otherwise they'll rise up in angry frustration.
Legislative elections are planned for November, but expect a descent into violence as the military are on stand-by. One month to go now, not long to placate the general public and instil in them a faith in the rule of law.
Mining Weekly has reported that Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco), an aluminium producer, "hopes to develop bauxite mines in Guinea, the world's top of exporter of the raw material." Hopes might be an operative word in these predicted precarious circumstances.
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