Guinea’s junta leader Mamady Doumbouya on Sunday said his country could solve its own problems, reported Africa News. The statement came just days after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) hardened its stance against Conakry.
Following the September coup that deposed Guinea’s President Alpha Conde, the ECOWAS grouping of West African states suspended Guinea from the bloc and slapped sanctions against individual junta members and their families.
The bloc has called for the unconditional release of President Conde who has been under house arrest since the coup. It has designated a special envoy for Guinea and called for elections to be held within six months.
In a televised interview on Sunday, Doumbouya said Conde was being treated well but that his future would be decided by the people of Guinea.
He had accused Conde of corruption and authoritarianism when he seized power in September. Last year, Conde changed the constitution to allow himself to seek a third term. Though he was re-elected, his critics denounced the poll as a sham.
Doumbouya, who was sworn in as Guinea’s interim president last month, said he was against the nomination of a special envoy and the six-month timeframe for elections.
“I think we are intelligent enough to solve our problems together,” he said. “This is not a country that is in crisis, it is a country that is in the process of taking its destiny into its own hands… If there was a crisis here, then a special envoy could be dispatched,.”
The junta leader said Guineans want to solve their problems internally. He did not mention anything about how long it would take for a return to civilian rule.
In September, Guinea’s military junta dissolved the government and institutions and replaced ministers, governors, and prefects with administrators and soldiers.
On October 6, Doumbouya named Mohamed Beavogui, a former UN under-secretary-general, as Guinea’s transitional prime minister.
