GUINEA CONAKRY: The Military Coup led by Lt. Col Mamady Doumbouya has toppled the leadership of president Alpha Conde of Guinea.
Reports indicate that 83 Years old President Alpha Conde who won a Controversial third term in 2020 has been Arrested.
Earlier today, reports showed unusual military activity in the capital Conakry and heavy gunfire was reported near the presidential palace.
Conde has faced mounting criticism ever since he sought a third term in office last year, saying the constitutional term limits didn’t apply in his case. He was ultimately reelected, but the move prompted violent street demonstrations, and the opposition said dozens were killed.
Conde came to power in 2010 in the country’s first democratic elections since independence from France in 1958.
Many saw his presidency as a fresh start for the mineral-rich country, which has been mired by decades of corrupt, authoritarian rule.
Opponents say he has failed to improve the lives of Guineans, most of whom live in poverty despite the country’s vast mineral riches.
In 2011, he survived an assassination attempt when mutinous soldiers fired at the palace.
Conde spent decades in opposition to a succession of regimes in Guinea, unsuccessfully running against President Lansana Conté in the 1993 and 1998 presidential elections and leading the Rally of the Guinean People (RPG), an opposition party.
Standing again in the 2010 presidential election, Condé was elected president in a second round of voting. When he took office that December, he became the first freely elected president in the country’s history. Conde was reelected in 2015 with about 58% of the vote, and again in 2020 with 59.5%, although the vote was tainted by allegations of fraud.