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Page i
HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES OF AFRICA
Edited by Jon Woronoff
1. Cameroon, by Victor T. Le Vine and Roger P. Nye. 1974. Out of
print. See No. 48.
2. The Congo, 2nd ed., by Virginia Thompson and Richard Adloff.
1984. Out of print. See No. 69.
3. Swaziland, by John J. Grotpeter. 1975.
4. The Gambia, 2nd ed., by Harry A. Gailey. 1987. Out of print. See
No. 79.
5. Botswana, by Richard P. Stevens. 1975. Out of print. See No. 70.
6. Somalia, by Margaret F. Castagno. 1975. Out of print. See No. 87.
7. Benin (Dahomey), 2nd ed., by Samuel Decalo. 1987. Out of print.
See No. 61.
8. Burundi, by Warren Weinstein. 1976. Out of print. See No. 73.
9. Togo, 3rd ed., by Samuel Decalo. 1996.
10. Lesotho, by Gordon Haliburton. 1977. Out of print. See No. 90.
11. Mali, 3rd ed., by Pascal James Imperato. 1996.
12. Sierra Leone, by Cyril Patrick Foray. 1977.
13. Chad, 3rd ed., by Samuel Decalo. 1997.
14. Upper Volta, by Daniel Miles McFarland. 1978.
15. Tanzania, by Laura S. Kurtz. 1978.
16. Guinea, 3rd ed., by Thomas O’Toole with Ibrahima Bah-Lalya.
1995. Out of print. See No. 94.
17. Sudan, by John Voll. 1978. Out of print. See No. 53.
18. Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, by R. Kent Rasmussen. 1979. Out of print.
See No. 46.
19. Zambia, 2nd ed., by John J. Grotpeter, Brian V. Siegel, and James R.
Pletcher. 1998.
20. Niger, 3rd ed., by Samuel Decalo. 1997.
21. Equatorial Guinea, 3rd ed., by Max Liniger-Goumaz. 2000.
22. Guinea-Bissau, 3rd ed., by Richard Lobban and Peter Mendy.
1997.
23. Senegal, by Lucie G. Colvin. 1981. Out of print. See No. 65.
24. Morocco, by William Spencer. 1980. Out of print. See No. 71.
25. Malawi, by Cynthia A. Crosby. 1980. Out of print. See No. 84.
26. Angola, by Phyllis Martin. 1980. Out of print. See No. 92.
27. The Central African Republic, by Pierre Kalck. 1980. Out of print.
See No. 51.
04-558 01 Front
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
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Page ii
Algeria, by Alf Andrew Heggoy. 1981. Out of print. See No. 66.
Kenya, by Bethwell A. Ogot. 1981. Out of print. See No. 77.
Gabon, by David E. Gardinier. 1981. Out of print. See No. 58.
Mauritania, by Alfred G. Gerteiny. 1981. Out of print. See No. 68.
Ethiopia, by Chris Prouty and Eugene Rosenfeld. 1981. Out of
print. See No. 91.
Libya, 3rd ed., by Ronald Bruce St John. 1998.
Mauritius, by Lindsay Riviere. 1982. Out of print. See No. 49.
Western Sahara, by Tony Hodges. 1982. Out of print. See No. 55.
Egypt, by Joan Wucher King. 1984. Out of print. See No. 89.
South Africa, by Christopher Saunders. 1983. Out of print. See No.
78.
Liberia, by D. Elwood Dunn and Svend E. Holsoe. 1985. Out of
print. See No. 83.
Ghana, by Daniel Miles McFarland. 1985. Out of print. See No. 63.
Nigeria, 2nd ed., by Anthony Oyewole and John Lucas. 2000.
Côte d’Ivoire (The Ivory Coast), 2nd ed., by Robert J. Mundt. 1995.
Cape Verde, 2nd ed., by Richard Lobban and Marilyn Halter. 1988.
Out of print. See No. 62.
Zaire, by F. Scott Bobb. 1988. Out of print. See No. 76.
Botswana, 2nd ed., by Fred Morton, Andrew Murray, and Jeff
Ramsay. 1989. Out of print. See No. 70.
Tunisia, 2nd ed., by Kenneth J. Perkins. 1997.
Zimbabwe, 2nd ed., by Steven C. Rubert and R. Kent Rasmussen.
1990. Out of print. See No. 86.
Mozambique, by Mario Azevedo. 1991. Out of print. See No. 88.
Cameroon, 2nd ed., by Mark W. DeLancey and H. Mbella Mokeba.
1990.
Mauritius, 2nd ed., by Sydney Selvon. 1991.
Madagascar, by Maureen Covell. 1995.
The Central African Republic, 2nd ed., by Pierre Kalck; translated
by Thomas O’Toole. 1992. Out of print. See No. 93.
Angola, 2nd ed., by Susan H. Broadhead. 1992. Out of print. See
No. 92.
Sudan, 2nd ed., by Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Richard A. Lobban Jr.,
and John Obert Voll. 1992. Out of print. See No. 85.
Malawi, 2nd ed., by Cynthia A. Crosby. 1993. Out of print. See No.
84.
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Page iii
55. Western Sahara, 2nd ed., by Anthony Pazzanita and Tony Hodges.
1994.
56. Ethiopia and Eritrea, 2nd ed., by Chris Prouty and Eugene Rosenfeld. 1994. Out of print. See No. 91.
57. Namibia, by John J. Grotpeter. 1994.
58. Gabon, 2nd ed., by David E. Gardinier. 1994.
59. Comoro Islands, by Martin Ottenheimer and Harriet Ottenheimer.
1994.
60. Rwanda, by Learthen Dorsey. 1994.
61. Benin, 3rd ed., by Samuel Decalo. 1995.
62. Republic of Cape Verde, 3rd ed., by Richard Lobban and Marlene
Lopes. 1995.
63. Ghana, 2nd ed., by David Owusu-Ansah and Daniel Miles McFarland. 1995.
64. Uganda, by M. Louise Pirouet. 1995.
65. Senegal, 2nd ed., by Andrew F. Clark and Lucie Colvin Phillips.
1994.
66. Algeria, 2nd ed., by Phillip Chiviges Naylor and Alf Andrew Heggoy. 1994.
67. Egypt, 2nd ed., by Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. 1994. Out of print. See
No. 89.
68. Mauritania, 2nd ed., by Anthony G. Pazzanita. 1996.
69. Congo, 3rd ed., by Samuel Decalo, Virginia Thompson, and
Richard Adloff. 1996.
70. Botswana, 3rd ed., by Jeff Ramsay, Barry Morton, and Fred Morton. 1996.
71. Morocco, 2nd ed., by Thomas K. Park. 1996.
72. Tanzania, 2nd ed., by Thomas P. Ofcansky and Rodger Yeager. 1997.
73. Burundi, 2nd ed., by Ellen K. Eggers. 1997.
74. Burkina Faso, 2nd ed., by Daniel Miles McFarland and Lawrence
Rupley. 1998.
75. Eritrea, by Tom Killion. 1998.
76. Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), by F. Scott Bobb. 1999.
(Revised edition of Historical Dictionary of Zaire, No. 43)
77. Kenya, 2nd ed., by Robert M. Maxon and Thomas P. Ofcansky.
2000.
78. South Africa, 2nd ed., by Christopher Saunders and Nicholas
Southey. 2000.
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Page iv
79. The Gambia, 3rd ed., by Arnold Hughes and Harry A. Gailey. 2000.
80. Swaziland, 2nd ed., by Alan R. Booth. 2000.
81. Republic of Cameroon, 3rd ed., by Mark W. DeLancey and Mark
Dike DeLancey. 2000.
82. Djibouti, by Daoud A. Alwan and Yohanis Mibrathu. 2000.
83. Liberia, 2nd ed., by D. Elwood Dunn, Amos J. Beyan, and Carl
Patrick Burrowes. 2001.
84. Malawi, 3rd ed., by Owen J. Kalinga and Cynthia A. Crosby. 2001.
85. Sudan, 3rd ed., by Richard A. Lobban Jr., Robert S. Kramer, and
Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban. 2002.
86. Zimbabwe, 3rd ed., by Steven C. Rubert and R. Kent Rasmussen.
2001.
87. Somalia, 2nd ed., by Mohamed Haji Mukhtar. 2002.
88. Mozambique, 2nd ed., by Mario Azevedo, Emmanuel Nnadozie,
and Tomé Mbuia João. 2003.
89. Egypt, 3rd ed., by Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. and Robert Johnston.
2003.
90. Lesotho, by Scott Rosenberg, Richard Weisfelder, and Michelle
Frisbie-Fulton. 2004.
91. Ethiopia, New Edition, by David H. Shinn and Thomas P. Ofcansky. 2004.
92. Angola, New Edition, by W. Martin James. 2004.
93. Central African Republic, 3rd ed., by Pierre Kalck, translated by
Xavier-Samuel Kalck, 2005.
94. Guinea, 4th ed., by Thomas O’Toole with Janice E. Baker, 2005.
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Page v
Historical Dictionary
of Guinea
Fourth Edition
Thomas O’Toole
with
Janice E. Baker
Historical Dictionaries of Africa, No. 94
The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Oxford
2005
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Page vi
SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.scarecrowpress.com
PO Box 317
Oxford
OX2 9RU, UK
Copyright © 2005 by Thomas O’Toole with Janice E. Baker
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
O’Toole, Thomas, 1941–
Historical dictionary of Guinea / Thomas O’Toole with Janice E. Baker.— 4th
ed.
p. cm. — (Historical dictionaries of Africa ; no. 94)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-8108-4634-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Guinea—History—Dictionaries. 2. Guinea—Bibliography. I. Baker, Janice
E., 1941– II. Title. III. Series: African historical dictionaries ; no. 94
DT543.5.O88 2005
966.52’003—dc22
2004021010
∞ ™ T he paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
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Page vii
This fourth edition of the
Historical Dictionary of Guinea
is dedicated to:
Ann, Rachel, Phillip, and Graciela
for their tolerance and forbearance,
love and friendship;
Peace Corps Guinea I and II
with whom we shared our first experiences of Africa;
and
the many wonderful Guinean and other African friends
who welcomed us into their homes and hearts
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Page viii
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Page ix
Contents
Dedication
vii
Editor’s Foreword Jon Woronoff
xi
Acknowledgments
xiii
Reader’s Note
xv
Acronyms and Abbreviations
xvii
Maps
xxv
Tables
xxvii
Chronology
xxxiii
Introduction
liii
THE DICTIONARY
1
Bibliography
215
Introductory Essay
215
Abbreviations in the Bibliography
217
Bibliography Contents
219
Internet Sources
000
General Works
219
Early Historical and Exploration Accounts
221
Historical Studies
224
Anthropology, Ethnology, and Sociology
232
ix
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Page x
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Page xi
Editor’s Foreword
For some parts of Africa, it can be amazingly hard to figure out what
has happened and why. Over four decades ago, when Guinea became
independent—seizing its independence instead of begging for it to be
gifted—it was certainly one of the most promising countries on the continent. The land was relatively varied and fertile, with a front on the
ocean. There were substantial sources of mineral wealth. The people
were terribly enthusiastic and boasted a charismatic leader. More than
two decades later, that leader was still in charge, although the country
had gone to seae and millions had fled. Then came a second chance, under a new leader and a new regime. There were sSome changes occurred, indeed, even some improvements. Now, another two decades
later, there is again the musty odor of the end of a regime. Will Guinea
be luckier for its third chance, whenever it comes, whatever it is? Let us
hope so.
As noted, it is sometimes hard to know just what has happened in
Africa. Much of it is obscure to begin with, the worste parts even being kept secret (and in Guinea not all the secrets have been revealed).
But at least this book does give us a handle on what has happened, who
did what, and when. That is provided in the chronology, which reaches
all the way back, far beyond the recent decades. The situation is briefly
summed up in the introduction. Then the dictionary looks into a myriad of aspects, obviously focusing on the leaders and their entourage,
but not forgetting those who opposed them and often paid the price,
even having something to say about the ordinary folks who have had
to live through it all. Much of this is political, some economic, other
bits social, and this time entries are included on the culture, music,
dance and literature, things that make life easier to bear and occasionally joyous. The bibliography, which has grown, offers other sources of
information, although given the circumstances, there is no abundance
xi
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Page xii
EDITOR’S FOREWORD
of new writing. Still, thanks to this book, it is possible to learn more
about what has happened in Guinea. Why is another matter, left to the
reader’s judgment.
This is now the fourth edition of the Historical Dictionary of Guinea,
the first having appeared in 1978. Each edition has been compiled, then
updated and expanded, by the same author, Thomas O’Toole. Dr. O’Toole
originally served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea from 1963
through 1965 and he has been there most recently in 2002, this time as a
Fulbright scholar. During the whole period, he closely followed events in
Guinea and more broadly in Africa. In addition to his writing on Guinea,
he authored a book on the Central African Republic. Presently he teaches
anthropology and African studies at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. This time he was ably assisted by Janice E. Baker, who also
served in Guinea with the Peace Corps from 1963 through 1965. Although she spent much of her career in public service, she has returned to
Africa periodically and maintained her interest, this expressed through
several books for young people on African countries. As explained earlier, it is not easy to find out about Guinea, but these two authors have
done a commendable job of keeping abreast of events and conveying their
knowledge to others.
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Page xiii
Acknowledgments
Once again I need to thank many people for making this fourth edition
possible. My wife, Ann, who as my companion, mentor, editorial adviseor, and guide saw me through the task while our lives were very
busy. She cannot be thanked enough. My daughter, Rachel, and my son,
Phillip, both now caring involved scholars in their own right, give me
reason to hope. My granddaughter, Graciela, who is the joy of my life,
extends their promise to yet another generation. Special thanks are also
due to the library staff at the University of Wisconsin–-Madison who
offered invaluable assistance; Christine Schoettler who, among other
things, did her best to make sure that French and German words were
spelled correctly; and Victoria Coifman of the University of Minnesota
whose personal insights about Guinea were of great importance. Many
Guinean friends offered insights into the present-day actualities of
Guinea. Lansiné Kaba stands out as my first guide to understanding
Guinean and African studies. Of special note are Robert Saa Millimonou and Louis Alseny Camara. Some elements of the work by the coauthor of the third edition, Ibrahima Bah-Lalya, are maintained in this
edition even though changed circumstances have not allowed him to be
directly involved. The staff of Interface Graphics, Minneapolis, Minnesota, produced the two new maps in this edition.
The coauthor of this edition is my friend and colleague, Janice Baker,
whose research, writing, editorial, and organizational skills combined
with her long-term interest in Africa, especially Guinea, have made her
a necessary partner in this thorough revision of the dictionary. She, in
turn, wishes to thank the reference staff at the Georgetown University
Library for their invaluable assistance in locating very difficult-to-find
current information on Guinea.
xiii
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Page xiv
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Page xv
Reader’s Note
Total agreement on a standard orthography for most of the indigenous
languages of Guinea did not exist even at the end of the past century.
Since independence, standardized spellings have been attempted. The
fact that French, Portuguese, and English variants for many terms exist
along with different forms in the various African languages of Guinea
continues to compound the difficulties.
A single ethnic group, the Fulbé, can be labeled Peul, Pulo, Puulo,
Fula, or Fulani depending on the source. Pulo (Puulo) is the singular,
and Fulbé is the plural use by Hapular or Fulfuldé (speakers of Fulbé
languages). There is actually an implosive sound in the form of the
Fulbé language spoken in Guinea, which is not accurately represented
by the “b” in Fulbé, but for sake of simplicity these people are identified herein as Fulbé without resorting to Ful’bé as an alternative.
Likewise, the Maninka people are often referred to as Mandinka, Malinké, or Mandingo. Though the usual Guinean usage is Malinké, they
are identified here, for greater linguistic accuracy, as Maninka.
Generally agreed on spellings of names and terms are usually used
even when they are not linguistically correct in most other cases. When
widely divergent spellings exist, the various forms are most often given,
with the most common term given first. Capitalization of words follows
generally agreed on rules except where usage has standardized other
patterns.
Guinean personal names begin with the family patronym followed by
the individual’s name, such as Camara Laye (Mr. Camara). We have
used that format for Guinean names throughout the dictionary except
where common practice employs the European pattern, such as Ahmed
Sékou Touré.
Gathering information on Guinean events and individuals, especially
those not linked to political authority, can be a challenge for researchers
xv
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Page xvi
READER’S NOTE
living elsewhere. We acknowledge that some entries, especially biographical ones, raise questions about “missing years.” Despite our best
efforts to provide complete and comprehensive entries, we were not always able to fill in gaps.
Accurate statistical data on Guinea are difficult to find, and quantitative data from difference sources can vary widely. In this edition we have
relied mainly on data from the Economist Intelligence Unit (London),
the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization, and
occasionally the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Estimates among these organizations may vary,
sometimes considerably. Where appropriate, we have indicated the
sources of differing statistical information.
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Page xvii
Acronymns and Abbreviations
ADB
AFRIMAR
AGF
AGP
AIDS
AIDS-HIV
ALCAN
ANP
AOF
ADRA
AU
BAG
BAO
BATIPORT
BCEAO
BCG; BCRG
BCI
BGCE
African Development Bank
Société africaine des pêches maritimes/African
Maritime Fishing Company
Association des Guinéens en France/Association of
Guineans in France
Agence guinéenne de presse/Guinean Press Agency
acquired immune deficiency syndrome
acquired immune deficiency syndrome–human immunodeficiency virus
Aluminum of Canada, Ltd.
Alliance nationale patriotique/National Patriotic
Alliance
Afrique occidentale française/French West Africa
Adventist Development and Relief Agency
African Union
Bloc africain de Guinée/African Block in Guinea
Banque de l’Afrique occidentale/Bank of West
Africa
Société nationale d’importation de matériel pour le
bâtiment/ National Building Materials Importation
Company
Banque centrale des états de l’Afrique de l’Ouest/
Central Bank of West African States
Banque centrale de la république de Guinée/Central
Bank of the Republic of Guinea
Banque pour le commerce et l’investissement/Bank
for Commerce and Investment
Banque guinéenne de commerce extérieur/Bank for
International Trade
xvii
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BIAO
BICIGUI
BNDA
BPMG
BPN
CAP
CATC
CBG
CCFA
CEFA
CER
CFA
CFAO
CFTC
CGCE
CGCI
CGE
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Page xviii
ACRONYMNS AND ABBREVIATIONS
BIAG
BIG
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Banque internationale pour l’Afrique en Guinée/
International Bank for Africa in Guinea
Banque internationale pour l’Afrique occidentale/
International Bank for West Africa
Banque internationale pour le commerce et l’industrie en Guinée/International Bank for Commerce and
Industry in Guinea
Banque Islamique de Guinée/Islamic Bank of
Guinea
Banque nationale pour le développement agricole/
National Bank for Agricultural Development
Banque populaire maroco-guinéen/MoroccanGuinean Peoples’ Bank
Bureau politique national/National Political Bureau
Coopérative agricole de production/Agricultural
Production Cooperative
Confédération africaine des travailleurs croyants/
African Confederation of Believing Workers
Compagnie des bauxites de Guinée/Bauxite Company of Guinea
Comptoir commercial Franco-Africain/FrenchAfrican Trade Company
Comité d’études Franco-Africain/Committee of
French-African Studies
Centre d’éducation rurale; and Centre d’éducation
révolutionnaire, beginning in 1966/Center of Rural
Education and Center of Revolutionary Education
Communauté financière africaine/African Financial
Community
Compagnie française de l’Afrique occidentale/French
West African Company
Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens/
French Confederation of Christian Workers
Comptoir guinéen du commerce extérieur/Guinean
Exterior Trade Company
Comptoir guinéen du commerce intérieur/Guinean
Interior Trade Company
Comptoir général d’études/General Bureau of Studies
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Page xix
ACRONYMNS AND ABBREVIATIONS
CGT
CGTA
CIA
CMP
CMR
CMRN
CNE
CNF
CNLC
CNP
CNPA
CNR
CNTG
CODEM
COPAC
CTLN
CTRN
CUP
DSG
EC
• xix
Confédération générale du travail/General Labor
Confederation
Confédération générale des travailleurs africains/
General Confederation of African Workers
(U.S.) Central Intelligence Agency
Comité militaire de production/Military Production
Committee
Centre de modernisation rurale/Center of Rural
Modernization
Comité militaire de redressement national/Military
Committee for National Rectification
Caisse nationale d’epargne/National Savings Bank
Comité national des femmes/National Women’s
Committee
Comité national de lutte contre la corruption/National Committee against Corruption
Coordination de la nouvance présidentielle/Coordination of Presidential Renewal
Centre national de production agricole/National
Center of Agricultural Production
Conseil national de la révolution/National Council of
the Revolution
Confédération nationale des travailleurs de
Guinée/National Confederation of Guinean Workers
Coordination de l’opposition démocratique/Coordination of the Democratic Opposition
Coopérative de production agricole et de consommation/Cooperative of Agricultural Production and
Consumption
Comité transitoire de libération nationale/Transitional Committee of National Liberation
Comité transitoire de redressement national/Transitional Committee of National Rectification
Comité d’unité de production/United Production
Committee
Démocratie socialiste de Guinée/Social Democracy
of Guinea
European Community
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ACRONYMNS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ECOMOG
ECOWAS
EDG
EIU
ESA
EU
FAC
FAO
FAPA
FEANF
FIDES
FLNG
FRAD
GAPCO
GDP
GnF
GNP
GS
HALCO
HCE
HIV
IBA
IBRD
IDA
IFAD
2:37 PM
Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group
Economic Community of West African States
Energie de Guinée/Energy of Guinea
Economist Intelligence Unit (London)
Ecole supérieure d’administration/Advanced School
of Administration
European Union
Fund for Aid and Cooperation
Food and Agriculture Organization
Ferme agropastorale d’arrondissement/Agropastoral
Farm of the Section
Fédération des étudiants de l’Afrique noire en
France/Federation of Black African Students in
France
Fonds d’investissement pour le développement
économique/Investment Funds for Economic Development
Front pour la libération nationale de Guinée/Front
for the National Liberation of Guinea
Front républicain pour l’alliance démocratique/Republican Front for the Democratic Alliance
Guinean Aluminum Products Company
Gross domestic product
Guinean franc
Gross national product
Guinean syli
Consortium formed by Harvey Aluminum Company
Haut conseil aux affaires électorales/High Council of
Electoral Affairs
Human immunodeficiency virus
Association inter-gouvernementale des pays producteurs de bauxite/Intergovernmental Association of
Bauxite Producing Countries
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank)
International Development Association
International Fund for Agricultural Development
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Page xxi
ACRONYMNS AND ABBREVIATIONS
IFAN
IMF
INRD
IPN
JORG
JRDA
MIFERGUI
MORAD
OAU
OBK
OCA
OERS
OICI
OMVG
OMVS
ONCFG
OPEC
PAIGC
• xxi
Institut Français d’Afrique Noire/French Institute of
Black Africa
International Monetary Fund
Institut national de recherches et de documentation/National Institute of Research and Documentation
Institut pédagogique national/National Pedagogical
Institute
Journal officiel de la République de Guinée/Official
Journal of the Republic of Guinea
Jeunesse du rassemblement démocratique africain/
Youth of the Democratic African Rally
Société des mines de fer de Guinée/Guinean Iron
Mining Company
Mouvement contre le référendum et pour l’alternance
démocratique/Movement against the Referendum
and for the Democratic Alternative
Organization of African Unity/Organisation de l’Unité
Africaine (OUA
Office des bauxites de Kindia/Bauxite Office of Kindia
Office de commercialisation agricole/Office of Agricultural Marketing
Organisation des états riverains du fleuve Sénégal/
Organization of the Senegal River States
Opportunities Industrialization Center International
Organisation pour le mise en valeur de fleuve Gambia/Organization for the Development of the Gambia
River
Organisation pour le mise en valeur de fleuve Sénégal/Organization for the Development of the Senegal
River
Office national des chemins de fer de Guinée/
National Railway Office of Guinea
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
Partido Africao da Independencia da Guine e do
Cabo-Verde/African Party for the Independence of
Guinea and Cape Verde
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PDCIRDA
PDG
PDG-RDA
PND
PPG
PRA
PREF
PRL
PRN
PRP
PUD
PUP
RDA
RGE
RPF
Page xxii
ACRONYMNS AND ABBREVIATIONS
PASE
PGP
PIRN
2:37 PM
Programme d’ajustement de l’éducation/Educational
Adjustment Program
Parti démocratique de Côte d’Ivoire - Rassemblement démocratique africain/Democratic Party of the
Ivory Coast - Democratic African Rally
Parti Démocratique de Guinée/Democratic Party of
Guinea
Parti démocratique de Guinée/Democratic Party of
Guinea-Rassemblement Démocratique Africain/
African Democratic Rally
Parti guinéen du progrès/Guinean Progress Party
Plan intérimaire de redressement national/Interim
Plan for National Rectification
Parti national pour le développement et la démocratie/National Party for Development and Democracy
Parti progressiste de Guinée/Progressive Party of
Guinea
Parti du régroupement Africain/Party of African Regroupmen
Programme de reforms économiques et
financiers/Program of Economic and Financial Reforms
Pouvoir révolutionnaire local/Local Revolutionary
Power
Parti du régroupement national/Party of National Regroupment
Parti de renouveau et du progrès/Party for Renewal
and Progress
Parti pour l’unité et la démocratie/Party for Unity
and Democracy
Parti de l’unité et le progrès/Party of Unity and
Progress
Rassemblement démocratique africain/African
Democratic Rally
Regroupement de Guinéens à l’étranger/Regroupment of Guineas Abroad
Rassemblement du peuple Français/Rally of the
French People
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ACRONYMNS AND ABBREVIATIONS
RPG
RTG
SAG
SBK
SCOA
SFIO
SGBC
SIAG
SIP
SMD
SNA
SNE
SOGETRAG
SOGUIKOP
SOGUIP
SONAG
SOPEKAM
SOTELGUI
• xxiii
Rassemblement du peuple Guinéen/Rally of the
Guinean People and Rassemblement populaire
Guinéen/Guinean Peoples’ Rally
Radiodiffusion-Télévision Guinéenne/Guinean RadioTelevision Broadcasting
Société Ashanti Goldfields/Ashanti Goldfields Company
Société de bauxite de Kindia/Bauxite Company of
Kindia
Société commerciale de l’Ouest Africain/Commercial Company of West Africa
Section française de l’internationale ouvrière/French
Section of the Workers’ International
Societe générale de banques en Guinée/General Association of Guinean Banks
Société industrielle et automobile de Guinée/Industrial and Automobile Company of Guinea
Sociétés indigènes de prévoyance/Indigenous Providence Associations
Société minière de Dinguiraye/Dinguiraye Mining
Company
Société nationale d’assurances/National Insurance
Company
Société nationale d’électricité/National Electricity
Company
Société générale des transports de Guinée/General
Transportation Company of Guinea
Société guinée-koweitienne de pêche/GuineanKuwati Fishing Company
Société guinéenne de pétrole/Guinean Petroleum
Company
Société nouvelle d’assurance et de re-assurance de
Guinée/New Insurance and Reinsurance Company
of Guinea
Société de pêche du Kamsar/Kamsar Fishing Company
Société des télécommunications de Guinée/Guinean
Telecommunications Company
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Page xxiv
ACRONYMNS AND ABBREVIATIONS
UFDG
UFR
UGAR
UGTAN
UIBG
UN
UNDP
UNESCO
UNHCR
UNP
UNR
UPG
UPR
USAID
USSR
WAMZ
WHO
Union des forces démocratiques de Guinée/Union of
Guinean Democratic Forces
Union de forces républicain/Union of Republican
Forces
Union Guinéenne d’assurances et de re-assurances/
Guinean Insurance and Reinsurance Union
Union générale des travailleurs d’Afrique Noire/
General Union of Black African Workers
Union internationale de banques en Guinée/International Union of Banks in Guinea
United Nations
United Nations Development Program
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization
United Nations High Commission for Refugees
Union nationale pour la prosperité/National Union
for Prosperity
Union pour la nouvelle république/Union for the
New Republic
Union pour la prosperité de la Guinée; also Union
pour le progrès de la Guinée/Union for the Prosperity of Guinea and Union for Guinean Progress
Union pour le progrès et le rénouveau/Union for
Progress and Renovatio
United States Agency for International Development
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
West African Monetary Zone
World Health Organization
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Page xxv
Interface Graphics Staff, Minneapolis
12/1/04
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Page xxvi
Tinkisso R.
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Interface Graphics Staff, Minneapolis
31
33
30
7
25
99
17
35
15
83
350
55
57
74
74
NA
1980
100
17
42
15
80
330
600
63
NA
NA
NA
1984
110
36
50
7
52
500
450
100
105
94
NA
1990
150
72
830
24
210
870
1000
95
135
10##
123
2001
Sources: Economist Intelligence Unit, Country Profile 2002 Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia (London: 2002); Harold D. Nelson, Area Handbook for Guinea, 2d
ed. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1975); Africa South of the Sahara (London: Europa Publications, various years); United Nations
Food and Agricultural Organization estimates; and Direction Nationale de la Statistique (Conakry, Guinea).
*
70
15
10**
5
30
300
480
320*
120*
75
NA
1976
2:38 PM
This statistical information can be accepted only with reservation and close analysis.
These FAO "estimates" are most certainly in error.
**
Export only.
##Millet only.
35
15
25
15
19
40
16
23
13
18
200
220
48
30
90
NA
1972
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#
250
370
68
80
150
NA
1968
360
420
70
85
146
NA
1964
Estimated Agricultural Production, selected years8 (thousands of metric tons)
Food Crop
Rice (paddy)
Cassava (manioc)
Maize (corn)
Sweet potatoes
Millet and other cereals
Fonio
Export Crops
Bananas
Pineapples
Palm kernels
Coffee
Peanuts (groundnuts)
Table 1
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1980
NA
13,427
38
NA
NA
NA
1975
NA
7,674
80
NA
NA
NA
2001
700
14,900
449
14.8
NA
15
1990
NA
17,530
146.6
NA
NA
NA
1985
NA
13,750*
750*
NA
NA
NA
2:38 PM
Sources: Economist Intelligence Unit, Country Profile 2002 Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia (London: 2002); United States Statistical yearbook; Africa South of
the Sahara (London: Europa Publications, various years).
NA
2,490
74
NA
1,040
NA
1970
12/1/04
*Unofficial estimate.
NA = not available
NA
1,870
72
NA
378
NA
1965
Estimated Mining Production, selected years (thousands of metric tons, except diamonds)
Alumina
Bauxite
Diamonds (thousand carats)
Gold
Iron ore
Salt, unrefined
Table 2
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Page xxix
The Government (as of September 2003)
Head of State
President and Minister of Defense
Gen. Lansana Conté
Council of Ministers
Prime Minister
Political Adviser to the Presidency
Relations with Republican Institutions
Foreign Affairs
Justice; Keeper of the Seals
Security
Territorial Administration, and
Decentralization
Economy and Finance
Trade, Industry, and Small-Scale
Enterprises
Mines and Geology
Agriculture and Livestock
Fishing
Urbanization and Housing
Energy and Environment
Planning
Public Works and Transport
Preu-University and Civic Education
Technical and Vocation Training
Higher Education and Scientific
Research
Public Health
Youth, Sports, and Culture
Tourism
Employment and Civil Service
Women and Children
Secretary-General to the President
Government Secretary-General
Lamine Sidimé ( replaced by François
Fall in February 2004)
Dorank Diasseny
Thierno Mamadou Cellou Diallo
François Ousseynou Fall
Mamadou Sylla
Moussa Sampil
Moussa Solano (removed 1 March
2004)
Cheikh Amadou Camara
Mariama Deo Baldé (f)
Alpha Mady Soumah
Jean-Paul Sarr
Al Hajj Oumar Kouyaté
Blaise Ono Foromo
Mory Kaba
Fassou Niancoye Sagno
Cellou Dalein Diallo
Galéma Guilavogui
Ibrahima Souhma
Eugene Camara
Mamadou Saliou Diallo
Abdel Kader Sangaré
Sylla Koumba Diakité (f)
Laminé Camara
Mariama Aribot (f)
Fodé Bangoura
Ousmane Sanoko
Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit, Country Report Guinea, (September 2003)
22 Dec 1891–2 Nov 1900
2 Nov 1900–28 Sep 1904
28 Sep 1904–27 Mar 1906
27 Mar 1906–16 May 1907
16 May 1907–25 Jul 1907
26 Jul 1907–18 Feb 1908
18 Feb 1908–4 Jul 1910
4 Jul 1910–Nov 1910
Nov 1910–9 May 1912
9 May 1912–7 Mar 1913
7 Mar 1913–23 Oct 1915
23 Oct 1915–21 Jul 1929
21 Jul 1929–1931
1931–1 Jan 1932
1 Jan 1932–7 Mar 1936
7 Mar 1936–12 Feb 1940
12 Feb 1940–Aug 1942
Aug 1942–25 Mar 1944
25 Mar 1944–30 Apr 1946
30 Apr 1946–Jan 1948
Jan 1948–9 Feb 1951
9 Feb 1951–Apr 1953
Apr 1953–23 Jun 1955
23 Jun 1955–3 Jun 1956
Noël Ballay
Paul Jean François Cousturier
Antoine Marie Auguste Frezouls (acting to 15 Oct 1904)
Jules Louis Richard (acting)
Joost van Vollenhoven (acting)
Georges Poulet (1st time; acting)
Victor Liotard
Georges Poulet (2nd time; acting)
Camille Guy
Jean Louis George Poiret (1st time; acting)
Jean Jules Émile Peuvergne
Jean Louis George Poiret (2nd time; acting to 12 Oct 1916)
Louis François Antonin (acting)
Robert de Guise
Joseph Zébédée Olivier Vadier
Louis Placide Blacher
Antoine Félix Biacobbi
Horace Valentin Crocicchia
Jacques Fourneau (acting)
Édouard Louis Terrac (acting)
Roland Pré
Paul Henri Siriex
Jean Paul Parisot (acting to 2 Dec 1953)
Charles-Henri Bonfils
Colonial and Post-Colonial Government Leaders
Governors
Table 4
b. 1908–d. 2001
b. 1907–d. 1980
b. 1908
b. 1883–d. 1960
b. 1891–d. 1957
2:38 PM
d. 1932
b. 1860–d. 1929
d. 1932
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b. 1858–d. 1916
b. 1877–d. 1918
b. 1847–d. 1902
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26 Apr 1972–3 Apr 1984
5 Apr 1984–18 Dec 1984
9 Jul 1996–8 Mar 1999
8 Mar 1999–15 Feb 2004
15 Feb 2004–
Ahmed Sékou Touré (vice president, from
26 July 1958 president, of the Government Council)
Louis Lansana Béavogui
Diarra Traoré
Sidya Touré
Laminé Sidimé
François Fall
b.
b.
b.
b.
1923–d. 1984
1935–d. 1985
1945
1944
b. 1922–d. 1984
b. 1922–d. 1984
b. 1923-d. 1984
b. 1934
b. 1913–d. 1968
b. 1904–d. 1983
2:38 PM
14 May 1957–2 Oct 1958
Ahmed Sékou Touré
Louis Lansana Béavogui (interim)
Lansana Conté (chairman Military
Committee of National Restoration to 5 Apr 1984)
Jean Ramadier
Jean Mauberna (acting)
12/1/04
Prime Ministers
2 Oct 1958–26 Mar 1984
27 Mar 1984–3 Apr 1984
3 Apr 1984
Presidents
3 Jun 1956–29 Jan 1958
29 Jan 1958–2 Oct 1958
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Page xxxii
Guinean Ambassadors to the United States
Diallo Telly 1959–1961
Conté Seydou 1961–1968
Bangoura Karim 1969–1971
Keita Mory 1971–1972
Touré Sadam Moussa 1972–1974
Bah Habib 1974–1976
Kourouma Daouda 1977
Camara Ibrahima 1977–1979
Condé Mohamed Laminé 1979–1983
Diallo Thierno Habib 1983–1984
Beavogui Tollo 1984–1988
Camara Kékoura 1988–1990
Sangaré Moussa 1990–1993
Barry Boubacar 1993–1996
Thiam Mohamed Aly 1996–2001
Barry Rafiou Alpha Oumar 2002–present
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Chronology
3500 B.C.E.
crops.
700 B.C.E.
500s B.C.E.
crops.
Desiccation of the Sahara; emergence of savanna
Rise of small settled communities in the savanna.
West African peoples incorporate southeast Asian food
300 B.C.E.
Iron working expands in West African Sahel.
200 B.C.E.
The Soninka (or Soninké) at Kumbi Saleh.
100 B.C.E./100 C.E. Interaction of Sahelian and Berber (Saharan) peoples. Sahelian crops penetrate the West African forests.
200s–300s Foundation of savanna states that later lead to the empire
of Ghana.
300s Camels become central to the Saharan trade of the Berbers.
Trade in the Sahel may have contributed to the formation of the savanna
kingdoms.
570
Birth of the Prophet Muhammad.
800 Berbers introduce Islam to the West African Sahel. Tekrur (Senegal) is the first state to be fully converted to Islam.
918–1076 Apogee of the Eempire of Ghana. The country is inhabited
by Soninka (Soninké, Sarakholé, Sarakolé) lineages (Cissé, Diabi, Diané, Doukoure, Souare and Tounkara, among others), Fulbé, and
diverse other ethnic groups from the Manding cluster (Bambara,
Mande, Susu). As part of a major population drift beginning in the 10th
century, elements of all these groups moved south and west, with some
settling in present-day Guinea.
xxxiii
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CHRONOLOGY
920–1050
Ghana.
Much of present-day Guinea is part of the Empire of
1050 Berbers under Abdullah ibn Yasin, with allies from Futa Toro
(Senegal), begin attacks on Ghana and bring Islam to the West African
Sahel. Barmandama becomes the first Muslim king of Mali.
1054 Almoravids under Yahya ibn Umar take the town of Awdoghast
in ancient Ghana.
1056–1087
Soninka.
Reign of Abu Bakr who leads Berbers against the
1076 The southern Almoravids were long credited with conquering
Ghana’s capital, Kumbi-Saleh, in this year. Though actual conquest is
unlikely, there was certainly some armed conflict between Almoravids
and Soninka.
1076–1200 The decline of the Empire of Ghana gives rise to smaller
kingdoms such as Diara, Susu, and Mali that contend for supremacy in
the western Sahel.
1135 Almoravid rule of Ghana ends; independent Ghana is reestablished.
1200–1235 The Susu kingdom controls the region, and its leader,
Sumanguru Kanté, earns a reputation as an oppressor.
1235–1255 Sundiata (Sunjata) Keita, a prince from the ruling family
of Mali, defeats Sumanguru Kanté and drives the Susu back to the Futa
Jalon highlands. The coalition he assembles to fight Sumanguru seals a
pact at Kurugan that becomes the backbone of the Empire of Mali.
1255 Mansa Ulli continues the expansion of the Empire of Mali. He
was the first Mansa (ruler) to make the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Gao
emerges as a rival.
1312–1337 Reign of Mansa Kankan Musa, the great eEmperor of
Mali (the “Rex Melli” or “King of the Gold Mines” on some European
medieval maps).
1324
Kankan Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca.
1337
Death of Mansa Musa; start of reign of Mansa Sulayman.
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CHRONOLOGY
• xxxv
1360–1369 Death of Mansa Sulayman; reign of Mansa Mari-Djata II.
1374–1378 Reign of Mansa Musa II. During his reign, Mali begins a
long decline under threat of Gao to the east and Tuaregs from the north.
1387–1388 Reign of Mansa Magha II, but his succession was much
disputed by Sandahi in 1388–-1389 and Mahmed in 1390.
1400 Susu (Soninka) begin their dominance in Futa Jalon. The Diallo
branch of the Fulbé established at Masina.
1420 The “Golden Age” of Portuguese maritime exploration begins in
earnest.
1450s– to 1480s Portuguese fail to make overland route to Timbuktu.
Between 800 and 1,000 slaves are brought back to Portugal each year
from Africa.
1490s Koli Tenguela (I) mobilizes the Denianka in the Futa Toro to
revolt against Askia the Great of Songhai after the death of Sunni Ali in
1492.
Early 1500s Fulbé begin to arrive on the Futa Jalon plateau.
1505–1508 Duarte Pacheco Pereira writes a great book on global navigation, Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis, which reports on products and wealth
from the Guinea coast.
1510 Valentim Fernandes writes about the Mande, Susu, and Fulbé
peoples along the Guinea coast.
1511 Koli Tenguela (I) is killed by the Songhai army. Captives from
this war against the Futa Toro are sold to the Portuguese.
1540s Englishman William Hawkins trades on the Guinea coast.
Post–1542
French privateers active on the Guinea coast.
1546 Songhai finally defeats the Empire of Mali. Many former tributary states (including some in Guinea) gain full independence.
1550s European trade with lançados (Portuguese explorers) and
coastal Dyula is well established.
1559
Koli Tenguela (II) leads the Denianka dynasty in the Futa Toro.
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CHRONOLOGY
1560s Expansion of English slaving on the West Coast of Africa.
1562 John Hawkins loots six Portuguese ships and deepens the English challenge to the Portuguese claims to the Guinea coast.
1590s Dutch intensify trade efforts along the Guinea coast.
1591 March: The army of Songhay is defeated at the Battle of Tondibi
by Moroccan troops and Spanish mercenaries. This marks the end of the
era of great empires in the West African savanna.
Early 1600s Beginning of Kankan and the Kingdom of Baté by Muslim Soninka (Soninké, Sarakolé or Sarakholé) migrants from the Dynafunu, a province of ancient Ghana in present-day Mali.
1600–1650 About 4,000 slaves were exported annually from the Upper Guinea coast to Brazil and elsewhere.
1625 Publication of André Donelha’s, Account of Sierra Leone and
the Rivers of Guinea.
1630–1654
Brazil.
Dutch attack Portuguese interests in West Africa and
1640s New World sugar production increases demand for more
slaves.
1645 The Empire of Mali, attempting to regain power, is defeated by
a coalition of Bamana (Bambara) forces.
1650–1879
of Guinea.
Slave trade creates period of great insecurity on the coast
1659 France establishes its first West African settlement in SaintLouis (Senegal).
1675 Beginning of the second Fulbé migration to Guinea from
Macina, the Futa Toro, and the Sahel.
1687
July: English factory (trading post) established at Rio Nunez.
1714
French Senegal Company sets up factories on the Guinea coast.
1725 First major conflict and settlement between Muslim Fulbé under
Karamoko Alfa’s leadership and the Diakhanka (also Jalonka or
Djalonka) and non-Muslims led by Mansa Dansa.
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CHRONOLOGY
• xxxvii
1751 Karamoko Alfa dies. The Fulbé encounter major setbacks in
their holy war against a coalition composed of Deniaka and other nonMuslim groups. Ibrahima Sori steps in to lead the Fulbé army, win the
war, and create the Sori dynasty.
1763 The Fulbé control the Futa Jalon highlands. This results in a
massive movement of Jalonka and Susu ethnic groups from the Futa
Jalon to the coast of Guinea.
1780s Ethnic and religious conflicts generate enough captives so that
about 2,200 slaves can be exported annually from Senegambia.
1788 Futa Jalon is formed as a Fulbé theocracy. The Imam of Futa
Toro prohibits regional transshipment of slaves, but the demand for
slaves on the coast thwarts this policy.
1793
French Revolutionary Assembly abolishes slavery.
1800s European nations begin the abolition of the slave trade, which
declines but continues on the northwest coast of Guinea until midcentury.
1805 Great Britain abolishes slavery and establishes a naval patrol
against slave traders in West African waters. The United States prohibits
the slave trade but not slave ownership.
1812 British export slaves from Guinea coast for secret sales to slave
shippers from the United States during war between the two nations.
This region supplies 10 to 12 percent of all African slaves at the period;
the majority go to Cuba.
1815 Treaty of Vienna between Great Britain and Portugal orders Portugal to curb its slave trade north of the Equator.
1827–1828 René Caillie leaves the Rio Nunez in northern Guinea
(Boké) to begin his journey to Timbuktu.
1834 Great Britain abolishes slavery in its colonies and pressures others to follow. The Society for the Abolition of Slavery is established in
Paris.
1838–1840 A1 Hajj Umar Tall, a Fulbé cleric from Futa Toro in Senegal who introduced the Tijaniyya (Sufi order) to West Africa, sojourns
in Kankan.
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CHRONOLOGY
1840 A gentlemen’s agreement is enacted between “Alfaya” from
Karamoko Alfa’s family and “Soriya” from Ibrahima Sori’s house. By
the terms of this agreement, the Futa Jalon state is to be ruled by a twoparty system with a complex election routine by a college representing
the main Fulbé families and settlements.
1842
French treaties with Landoma and Nalou leaders in Guinea.
1848 Formal abolition of slavery in French colonies though some
French purchases of slaves continue.
1850–1864 Al Hajj Umar Tall creates a theocratic state comprising
the region between Dinguiraye, Nioro, Timbuktu, and Mopti. His successors are unable to maintain unity and resist the French colonial
troops.
1854 The jihad of A1 Hajj Umar begins and six years later the French
force him to retire to the Niger River.
1860s–1870s Growth of the “legitmate” trade in palm oil and other
products.
1866
France acquires trading centers on Guinea coast.
1867 Fulbé-led jihad ends the Maninka kingdom of Kaabu at the battle of Kansala.
1868
French posts established at Boké and Benty.
1878
French campaigns against the Futa Jalon.
1880 French obtain railway concession in Guinea from some Fulbé
leaders.
1880–1881 Siege of Kankan by Samory Touré, an emerging military
leader and state builder, who came from dyula (Maninka trader) origins
along the forest borders of present-day Guinea.
1880–1898 Samory Touré builds a strong kingdom in the Guinean savanna, battles the French colonial troops for seven years (1891–1898),
but is finally captured by the French on September 19, 1898, and is exiled to Gabon. He dies in 1900.
1881
Portuguese sign treaty with Fulbé of Labé.
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CHRONOLOGY
• xxxix
1882 28 June: Anglo-French agreement on Sierra Leone and Guinea
boundaries.
1884–1885 The Congress of Berlin provides for the partition of the
African continent, making boundaries that largely remain today. The conditions of “effective” occupation are set, which results in the “Scramble
for Africa.” No Africans are invited.
1885 Slavery is abolished in Brazil and Franco-Portuguese borders
are established. Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference forbids import of
arms and liquors in Africa between 20 degrees north of the Equator and
22 degrees south. 12 May: Franco-Portuguese Convention on Portuguese Guinea and French Guinea boundaries. 31 August: French occupy Conakry. December: Portuguese sign treaty with Alfa Yaya of
Labé and slavery is abolished in Cuba.
1894–1907 The forest ethnic groups, especially Guerzé, Manon,
Toma, and Kissi, resist both Samory’s troops and French colonial
troops. It takes an alliance of French and British colonial troops to subdue their resistance.
1895 15 June: French West Africa (Afrique oOccidental Ffrançaise;
AOF) is established.
1896 The last independent Fulbé leader of the Futa Jalon, Almamy
Bokar Biro Barry, is defeated by the French at the Battle of Porédaka.
The Futa falls under French colonial rule. 10 March: The French colony
of Guinea is officially established despite local resistance in the Futa
Jalon, the Niger region and in the forest zones. This resistance continues until 1911.
1904 French Guinea boundaries are established by treaties among European countries.
1906
Guinea becomes part of French West Africa.
1907 18 September: Franco-Liberian agreement on Liberian French
Guinea borders.
1913 Blaise Diagne becomes the first African elected to the French National Assembly.
1920
4 December: French West Africa reorganized.
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CHRONOLOGY
1925 30 March: Africans are elected to the colonial Conseil d’aAdministration in Guinea.
1926
Locust plague in West Africa.
1942
7 December: French West Africa joins the Allies.
1944
30 January–8 February: Brazzaville Conference.
1945 4 November: Yanciné Diallo and Mamba Sano from Guinea are
elected to the First Constituent Assembly in Paris, which was to draft a
new constitution for the Fourth French Republic.
1946 11 April: Corvée (forced labor) abolished in French West Africa.
7 May: French citizenship with a limited franchise given all French
West African subjects. 18 October: African leaders from French West
Africa and French Equatorial Africa, including Sékou Touré, establish
the Rassemblement démocratique africain (RDA; African Democratic
Rally) in Bamako.
1947 May: The Guinean branch of the RDA, the Partie démocratique
de Guinée (PDG; Democratic Party of Guinea) is formed.
1952 Sékou Touré becomes secretary-general of the Guinea branch of
the RDA.
1954 The death of Yaciné Diallo, one of Guinea’s deputies to the
French National Assembly, allows Sékou Touré to make a strong showing in the election held to fill Diallo’s seat.
1955 In Bandung, Indonesia, representatives from 29 “Third World”
countries set goals for independence and cooperation among “developing” countries.
1956 23 June: The PDG-RDA sweeps the elections as Sékou Touré
and Saifoulaye Diallo are elected to the National Assembly in Paris. The
Gaston Deferre plan is passed. It provides for some form of administrative and political decentralization for Africans in the colonial territories.
Universal suffrage is extended for the first time. Sékou Touré is elected
mayor of Conakry and becomes vice-president of the Government
Council responsible for Guinea’s internal affairs.
1956–1957 Ethnic and political riots in Guinea. Fulbé who are members of the Bloc africain de Guinée (BAG; African Block in Guinea)
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and the Partie du regroupement africain (PRA; Party of African Regroupment) are mostly targeted.
1957 Under the loi cadre Sékou Touré’s government abolishes the
system of government-appointed “chiefs” and establishes elective
councils in the villages, communes, and districts;: the latter were redesignated circonscriptions. The Gold Coast becomes independent Ghana.
1958 25 August: General Charles de Gaulle, head of the French government, visits Conakry seeking Sékou Touré’s support for the referendum on the Constitution of the Fifth Republic. 28 September: Guineans
reject de Gaulle’s constitution by 1,136,324 to 56,981 votes. 2 October:
Guinea becomes an independent republic, with Sékou Touré as president.
1961 15 January: Nationalization program starts with takeover of
power and water supplies. November: “Teacher’s Plot” put down. Soviet ambassador is expelled.
1962 December: The Sixth Congress of the PDG in Conakry separates the leadership of the party from that of the state. Saifoulaye Diallo
is elected general secretary of the PDG and Sékou Touré remains head
of government and state.
1963 January: The National Assembly grants extraordinary powers to
Touré against alleged plotters. May: The Organization of African Unity
(OAU) is created in Addis Ababa under the first generation of African
leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Sékou Touré of Guinea,
Félix Houphouet-Boigny of Côte d’Ivoire, Emperor Haile Selassie of
Ethiopia, Abubakar Tafewa Balewa of Nigeria, and Julius Nyerere
of Tanzania. August: A PDG national conference held in Kankan is
transformed into the Seventh Congress and reinstates Sékou Touré as
general secretary.
1964 November: The government passes the loi cadre, a kind of enabling act aimed at controlling the growth of the private business sector
and containing the political strength of the emerging “bourgeoisie.”
1965 October: A “plot” allegedly led by Mohamed Touré, known as
“Petit Touré.” This first serious attempt to form a legal opposition is put
down. The leaders of this opposition, mostly traders, are arrested and
executed in jail. November: Ahmed Ben Bella, the president of Algeria
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and Touré’s political ally, is overthrown by a military group led by
Colonel Houari Boumedienne. 22 November: Diplomatic relations with
France are broken following a plot allegedly backed by French in October.
1966 February: Ghanaian president, Kwame Nkrumah, a close political ally of Touré, is overthrown by a military junta. Nkrumah takes
refuge in Guinea where Touré proclaims him co-president of the country. This causes deterioration of relations between Guinea and neighboring countries of Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia.
1967 The Eighth Congress of the PDG asserts the leadership of the
PDG over the country’s public life and the authority of its general secretary, Sékou Touré, over the party and the government. March: President Milton Margay of Sierra Leone is overthrown by Lieutenant
Colonel Andrew Juxon Smith. Sékou Touré sends troops into Sierra
Leone to restore order.
1968 2 August: Launching of the Guinean Socialist Cultural Revolution. November: Another of Sékou Touré’s close political allies, President Modibo Keita of Mali, is overthrown by a military junta. This coup
d’état triggered a series of bold political moves by Touré aimed at subduing the army leadership and increasing PDG control over Guinea’s
public life. As a result, several high-ranking military officers and civilian leaders are arrested and executed.
1969 February: The “Labé Plot.” More than 1,000 Guineans are arrested. Several high-ranking army officers and many members of the government are executed, including the deputy commander of the Guinean
armed forces, Colonel Kaman Diaby, a former minister of defense, Fodéba
Keita, and the main leader of the BAG, Diawadou Barry. 24 June: Assassination attempt on Sékou Touré during visit of President Kenneth Kaunda
of Zambia.
1970 22 November: Portuguese troops and Guinean exiles try to take
Conakry; they fail, 92 are condemned to death, and 66 are sentenced to
hard labor for life.
1971–-1978 The Soviet Union establishes naval patrols to prevent attacks from Portuguese troops and protect Touré’s regime against actions
from externally based Guinean opponents assembled under Le Front, a
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political umbrella. In return, the Soviets are authorized to use the
Conakry airport and seaport facilities for shipment of military equipment and troops to Angola, Mozambique, and the other Portuguesecontrolled areas of Africa.
1971 January: More than 70 persons are hanged in Conakry and other
towns throughout the country for alleged participation in the Portuguese
invasion of Guinea. Among them are Barry III, the former head of the
Union ppopulaire de Guinée, Osumane Baldet, former minister of planning and finance, and Kara Soufiana, the director of police. 24 January:
Diplomatic relations are broken with Senegal, and, on 29 January 1971,
with West Germany, on grounds that they had taken part in the abortive
invasion of Conakry. February: Series of visits from African heads of
states starts with President Ngouabi of Congo Brazzaville.
1972 April: President Sékou Touré is unanimously reelected president
at the PDG’s Ninth Congress.
1973 20 January: Amilcar Cabral, leader of the Guinea-Bissau independence struggle, is assassinated in Conakry.
1975 9 May: Diplomatic relations with West Germany resume after a
five-year lapse. July: Touré mediates the war between Burkina Faso
(Upper Volta) and Mali. 14 July: Diplomatic relations with France resume.
1976 January: Guinea agrees to participate in the Second World Black
and African Festival of Arts and Culture in Lagos. July: The “Fula
Plot,” Diallo Telli, former secretary- general of the Organization of
African Unity, is arrested and later left to die of hunger without benefit
of a trial.
1977 January: An agreement is signed under which France will pay
the pensions of 20,000 Guinean ex-servicemen while Guinea awards
compensation to nationalized French companies. 25 August: Demonstrations by market women in Conakry’s Madina market against the
brutality of police in charge of controlling economic affairs triggers riots throughout the country. These riots are brutally suppressed but do
mark the beginning of a shift by Touré away from the totally controlled
economy. September: Touré interprets the Koran on Radio Conakry
(The Voice of the Revolution) as supporting the PDG.
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1978 March: The Monrovia Conference seals the reunion between
Touré of Guinea, Senghor of Senegal, and Houphouët-Boigny of Côte
d’Ivoire. This conference also marks a major step in the reconciliation
between Guinea and France. May: A five-year arrangement for Soviet
military aircraft to use Conakry as a base for Atlantic surveillance
flights is canceled. December: French president Valéry Giscard
d’Estaing cements reconciliation with Guinea begun in 1976 with an official visit to Guinea.
1982 May: President Sékou Touré is reelected for his fourth term of
office by a supposedly 99.98 percent vote.
1984 January: A group of 20 alleged mercenaries is arrested in Senegal, accused of planning to overthrow the Guinean government. 26
March: Sékou Touré dies in a Cleveland, Ohio (United StatesA), hospital while undergoing heart surgery after a major heart attack. The
impressive funeral organized by the PDG is attended by prominent representatives from Africa and the rest of the world. Included were then–
vice-president George H. W. Bush of the United States and the French
prime minister. Touré was replaced by an interim president, and almost
the same government, composed of party members, continues to
run the country. 3 April: Senior army officers and a group of civilians,
mostly faculty from the Teacher’s Training School of Maneah, launch
a successful coup d’état against the interim government. The coup’s
success is assisted by the familial, ethnic, and regional dissensions
within the government. The Comité militaire de rédressement
national (CMRN; Military Committee of National Rectification) is created to serve as a national leadership body to bring about the reform of
the economic, political, and social life of the country. Over the next
several months tension grows within the CMRN between President
Lansana Conté and Prime Minister Diarra Traoré. The political differences between them seem to be aggravated by ethnic rivalries. Indications suggest that the army is aligned mostly with the president and the
administration with the prime minister. September: More than 200 people are arrested at Kamsar following the death, in police custody, of
Kerfalla Cissé, a criminal suspect. All but 16 are freed within 30 days.
18 December: The position of prime minister is eliminated and the
government is redesigned around four state ministries representing
more or less the four regions and major ethnic groups of Guinea.
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Colonel Jean Traoré, Commandant Sory Doumbouya, Commandant
Almamy Fofana, and Commandant Mamadou Baldé emerge as key
figures in the government and the CMRN.
1985 28 January: Guinean foreign minister Faciné Touré meets with
Presidents Dauda Diawara of Gambia, Joao Bernardo Vieira of GuineaBissau, and Abdou Diouf of Senegal for the sixth summit of the Gambia River Development Organization. 14 February: The International
Court of Justice (World Court) rules in favor of Guinea in its border dispute with Guinea-Bissau over an offshore area said to be rich in oil deposits. 4 July: At 10 o’clock in the evening a recorded message from
former prime minister Diarra Traoré stating that he had seized power is
broadcast over the radio. Troops loyal to President Conté retake the radio station by morning and arrest Traoré and many of his followers. Traoré, some members of the Touré family, and several Maninka officers
are executed without trial. October: The syli, the national currency at
the time, is devalued by 96 percent. December: The banking system is
reformed. The value of the Guinean franc (which replaced the syli)
is reduced to 300 GnF for one U.S. dollar rather than the previous 25
syli for a dollar. State banks are closed and replaced by mostly French
financial institutions. State subventions are substantially reduced and
commodity prices are freed from state regulations. A series of measures
is undertaken to control the rate of inflation.
1986 February: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) authorizes a
$40 million credit. and the World Bank provides a $42 million structural
adjustment loan. April–-May: Debts are rescheduled with 12 Western
nations (Paris Club), even though Guinea’s civil service wages are increased 80 percent. 12–-13 November: President François Mitterand of
France visits Guinea.
1987 January: A series of sectoral adjustment reforms, advised by
the World Bank and the IMF, lead to a 55 percent reduction of the civil
service ranks, substantial reductions of programs subsidized by the
government, major sectoral reforms in key national sectors, a general
shift toward more public accountability, and the start of a market
economy. One major and tangible effect of these reforms is the layoff
of 45,000 civil servants who, together with university activists, build
a strong pressure group.
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1988 January: Two students are dead and 50 people are arrested after two days of riots at the Madina market over the high cost of basic
commodities such as rice (rice prices jumped 300 percent in a few
days). These riots force the government to increase the salary of civil
servants by the same 80 percent that had already been granted to the
military.
1989 June: Fifty government enterprises including 17 from the industrial sector are closed as a result of the implementation of the structural
reform plan advised by the IMF and the World Bank. October: President
Conté launches a movement for national democratic dialogue. This dialogue leads to the formulation of a loi fondamentale, a constitution
providing a framework for democratic elections.
1990 After a constitution paving the way for civilian government is
adopted, the first local and regional elections are organized throughout the country. In some areas, these elections are characterized by violent clashes between ethnic factions. Conakry, Kindia, and
Nzérékoré are most affected by the conflicts. A violent strike led by
student activists and civil servants laid off as a result of structural reforms forces the government to make a 100 percent salary increase.
February: All remaining political prisoners and exiled dissidents receive amnesty. 27 October: University students begin a strike against
substandard conditions. [[AU: (Cited below.)]] November: The
president urges all political exiles to return to Guinea. 22 November:
Paramilitary police kill two demonstrating high school students. December: The military occupies the University of Conakry campus to
break up the continuing strike. 23 December: The government reports
that 98.7 percent of the more that three million voters who were said
to have cast ballots approved the loi fondamentale in a national referendum.
1991 February: The Comité transitoire de redressement national
(CTRN; Transitional Committee for National Rectification) is inaugurated, chaired by Conté. Military officers hold the most important positions. March–-May: Mayoral elections in Conakry are marred by ethnic
violence. A two-and-a-half-month student strike is followed by a 10-day
teachers’ strike, and a two-day general strike in early May. October:
Government troops fire on demonstrators in Kankan. 23 December:
Constitution of the Third Republic is promulgated. It establishes pow-
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ers for the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government
and authorizes a two-party political system.
1992 April: The constitutional system of two parties is changed, and
multiple political parties are legalized. In subsequent months, violence
breaks out between pro- and anti-Conté supporters. July: The government bans all political demonstrations. 6 August: The government
grants more than 40 hectares (100 acres) of Mount Nimba to an international mining consortium even though the area is a World Heritage
Site. December: The government postpones the legislative election indefinitely.
1993 February: President Conté meets with opposition leaders but refuses to participate in a government of national unity. September: Police fire on demonstrators demanding elections. Officially 18 are killed,
but other reports put the number at 63.
1994 January: President Conté is said to have obtained 51.70 percent
of the votes cast. His nearest opponent Alpha Condé receives 19.55 percent. The Supreme Court invalidates votes in Kankan and Siguiri préfectures where Condé had strong support (perhaps 90 percent of the
vote), due to evidence of malpractice. It is reported that 78.5 percent of
the registered voters participated in the presidential election. President
Conté is inaugurated on January 29.
1995 February: President Conté readopts his military rank, which he
was required by the cConstitution to resign to run for president. March:
Elections for a new National Assembly are announced for June 11. 11
June: Twenty-one political parties vie for the 114 seats in the National
Assembly. Official results show that the Parti de l’unité et le progrès
(PUP; Party of Unity and Progress) has won 71 seats. Eight other parties also win seats. Approximately 63 percent of eligible voters voted.
At the inaugural session on August 30, PUP’s Boubacar Biro Diallo is
elected speaker. July: Three opposition party leaders join with leaders
of nine other organizations to form the Coordination de l’opposition démocratique (Coordination of Democratic Opposition; CODEM). November: The government ban on political demonstrations ends.
1996 February: A quarter of the armed forces mutiny over low pay and
poor living conditions. The presidential palace is set on fire. An estimated
60 people are killed and another 300 injured. President Conté agrees to
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increase the pay of the military. April–-June: President Conté restructures
the military to combat continued opposition. July: President Conté appoints Sydia Touré as first prime minister under the Third Republic. November: The Rassemblement du peuple guinéen (RPG; Rally of the
Guinean People) headquarters are ransacked and four leaders are arrested.
Leaders of CODEM announce they will form a militia.
1997 June: The government establishes a State Security Court to deal
with exceptional matters such as the 1996 mutiny. Opponents note that
the constitution does not provide for such a court. September: The government announces that the independent electoral commission that was
to oversee the forthcoming presidential election in December 1998 will
not be established. Instead, the minister of territorial administration and
decentralization will be responsible for planning the election. December–March 1998: Four foreign journalists are expelled without a stated
reason.
1998 February: Ninety-six soldiers, allegedly involved in the mutiny
two years earlier, are brought to trial before the State Security Court.
They are accused of murder, armed robbery, criminal conspiracy, and
compromising national security. Months later, 53 are freed, 24 receive
hard labor sentences from 7 months to 10 years, and 6 are convicted and
sentenced from 12 to 15 years in prison. April– - December: Opposition
leaders are arrested and harassed. Riots and looting occur a few days before the election. November: Funeral of Stokely Carmichael (Kwame
Turé), a leader of the U.S. Black Power movement in the 1960s, is held
at the University of Conakry. He had lived in Conakry since 1969. 17
December: Presidential election results are announced giving Conté
56.1 percent of the valid votes with a 71.4 percent voter turn-out. A
number of people are killed during the election, and at least 100 members of the opposition are detained. An unsuccessful presidential candidate, Alpha Condé, is arrested and charged with treason.
1999 Protests against the retention of Alpha Condé continue while rumors of military unrest persist, frequently linked to insecurity on the
Sierra Leone and Liberian border. Repression of opposition by the authorities expands. September: Government officials blame violence on
external elements and begin to register all foreign residents in Conakry.
March: Lamine Sidimé, chief judge of the Supreme Court, replaces
Sidya Touré as prime minister. October: Members of the Transportation
Union and students in Conakry go on strike to protest increases in the
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cost of fuel and bus fares. After the government agrees to rescind the
bus fare increases, bus drivers and owners go on strike in protest. Drivers of private cars are attacked. December: The IMF and Guinea agree
to a poverty reduction growth facility that requires certain monetary reforms.
2000 January: A major government reshuffle follows disappointing
economic reports. April: Alpha Condé’s trial for treason begins but is
soon postponed. After several postponements, the trial takes place in
August. 25 June: Relatively peaceful local elections take place, and the
president’s party, PUP, gains control of 33 of 38 constituencies. September: Alpha Condé is sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, with
credit given for almost two years already served. September–May 2001:
Armed rebellion occurs in southeast Guinea near Macenta with 40
deaths reported. Cross-border attacks from Liberia and Sierra Leone
escalate. Refugee camps in Guinea are destroyed. Attacks along the
Liberian and Sierra Leonean borders result in hundreds of deaths and
hundreds of thousands of refugees. Forécariah, Guéckédou, Kissidougou, and Nango are seriously affected. Guinean troops are deployed
along the borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone. It is alleged that
Guinean forces as well as armed invaders mistreat refugees, burn their
camps, and deny access to aid groups. November: President Conté announces the postponement of legislative elections because of violence
and social unrest.
2001 February: In a campaign against lawlessness, five people are executed in provincial capitals. These are the first executions since President
Conté came to power. The government begins deploying attack helicopters to the front- line in its fight with rebels along its southeastern borders.
The United Nations high commissioner for refugees warns that the country’s refugee crisis, the result of civil war in Guinea itself and in neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia, is in danger of getting out of control.
May: The IMF approves another three-year poverty reduction growth facility for Guinea. The Paris Club grants another debt cancellation. MidMay: President Conté grants Alpha Condé a reduction in sentence, and he
is released from prison. Because Condé is not given a full pardon, he remains barred from political activities. His supporters call for a full
amnesty. Mid-June: Senior officials of PUP call for a national referendum
on a constitutional amendment allowing the president to run for a third
term and expanding the presidential term from five to seven years. June:
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President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone and President Conté meet
to discuss regional tensions and reopen the commercial highway between
Freetown and Conakry, closed since 1998. July: President Conté signs a
pact of military cooperation with Russian president, Vladimir Putin. 11
November: In a referendum on the constitutional amendments, 98.4 percent of those who voted agree to extend the presidential term to seven
years, remove the limit of two terms for a president, and remove the upper age limit for presidential candidates. Critics accuse President Conté of
trying to stay in power for life. The opposition boycotts the vote.
2002 Guinea establishes an anti-corruption committee, the Comité national de lutte contre la corruption (CNLC; National Committee against
Corruption), with far-reaching powers. Three months after its creation,
President Conté cuts back its authority. He forbids the CNLC to arrest
or question ministers without his prior approval, and he orders the
CNLC to turn over its cases to the justice ministry for action. January:
Guinea publishes the poverty reduction strategy paper, which recommends fiscal austerity, control of inflation, privatization, and increased
access to education and health care. February: Leaders of the three
Mano River countries (Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia) meet to discuss peace and a non-aggression treaty. They agree to adopt procedures
for resolving grievances, to aid refugees, and to work for repatriation of
refugees. At ministerial meetings that follow, the governments agree to
create a joint security force along the borders and to establish a humanitarian corridor to aid in repatriation. 16 February: Leaders of Guinea,
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, and
Nigeria meet to discuss management of their common resource, the
Niger River. Guinea’s prime minister announces the designation of six
new wetlands near the headwaters of the Niger River. March: The state
prosecutor at the High Court in Conakry is suspended for releasing prisoners awaiting trial for murder and armed robbery. He previously
clashed with the Mminister of Jjustice over cases brought by the CNLC.
The National Assembly elected in 1995 passes the 2002 budget as its final act before disbanding for the legislative elections, scheduled for
June 30. April: Leaders of the West African Monetary Zone (Gambia,
Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone) announce that the zone will
come into existence in January 2003 and will adopt a common currency
called the “eco” in 2004. Later, the date for inauguration of the zone is
set for January 2005. May: The IMF and the World Bank
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announce that Guinea’s performance has been satisfactory and that
funding of $12.1 million will be approved. They cite progress in health,
agriculture, and education. 30 June: Election for the National Assembly
is held, with a reported turnout of 71.6 percent of eligible voters. The
PUP majority increases to 85 seats. Five other parties share the remaining 29 seats. July: IMF funding resumes after a 14-month suspension.
27 August: Guinea launches a three-year literacy program for women,
to be financed jointly with the United Nations Development Program.
About 30,000 women are expected to benefit. September: Aboubacar
Sompoare, PUP secretary-general, becomes speaker of the National Assembly. As such, he is next in line of succession to the presidency, according to the constitution. PUP members hold all major parliamentary
positions, although Union de progrès et du renouveau (UPR; Union for
Progress and Renewal) members chair four of the 12 legislative commissions. September: The Guinean Bar Association (140 members)
goes on strike to protest the actions of Abou Camara, minister of justice.
Camara attempted to arrest a lawyer who presumably insulted a judge.
Previously Camara attempted to have the head of the bar arrested for his
comments questioning the independence of the judiciary, and in 2001
he attempted to dissolve the Bar Association. October: The United Nation’s panel of experts on Liberia publishes a report giving evidence that
Guinea helped Liberia break sanctions on the import of military equipment and arms. The report also names Guinea as the transit point for illicit traffic in arms and diamonds. November: Hundreds of women who
circumcise young girls turn in their ceremonial knives. This symbolic
action comes after a 14-year campaign to end female circumcision. December: The poverty reduction growth facility, scheduled to formally
expire in May 2004, is abandoned due to noncompliance.
2003 January: A coalition called the Coordination de la nouvance présidentielle (CNP; Coordination of Presidential Renewal) is created to
gather support for President Conté’s reelection. PUP members play a
dominant role. February: Prime Minister Lamine Sidimé attends the
Franco-African Summit in Paris rather than the ailing President Conté.
March: The Front républicain pour l’alliance démocratique (FRAD; Republican Front for the Democratic Alliance), a loose grouping of opposition parties, threatens a nationwide strike to protest the government’s
apparent inability to provide water, electricity and fuel, especially in
Conakry. March– - April: Public protests against the increased cost of
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fuel, with subsequent rise in the cost of basic goods and services. Inflation reaches an unusually high rate of 10.6 percent, the effect of loose
monetary policy. The IMF warns of the dangers of rising inflation. 16
April: President Conté replaces the minister of justice and the keeper of
the seal, Abou Camara, with a former supreme court judge, Mamadou
Sylla. No reason is given for the replacement. 16 May: The IMF and
World Bank evaluate Guinea’s progress under the poverty reduction
growth facility and announce that no further funds will be dispersed at
this time. 11 August: In Liberia, Charles Taylor transfers power to Moses
Blah and subsequently goes into exile in Nigeria. The civil war in Liberia
is declared at an end. 19 August: Conté asks Fodé Soumah, the vice governor of the central bank, to head the movement to re-elect the president
and to restructure the PUP. Sompoare and Fodé Bangura, head of the Bureau politique national (National Political Bureau) of the PUP and other
senior PUP members disapprove. However, Soumah has the support of
women and youth groups and of the governor of Conakry, M’Bemba
Bangoura. 27 August: A protest march by Guinean women, part of an annual celebration of the 1977 protest against Sékou Touré’s economic policies, directed at the rising prices of rice and other basic commodities,
leads Conté to threaten importers that they will be driven out of business
unless food prices come down. September: President Lansana Conté confirmed that he would seek a fresh seven-year term in December after
accepting the nomination of his ruling PUP. 21 December: In the presidential election, President Conté won a third term, now seven years. He
received 95.6 percent of the votes cast. His only opponent who ran in the
election, Mamadou Boye Barry (Union pour le progrès national, Union
for National Progress), received 4.4 percent. All other opponents boycotted the election.
2004 2 March: President Conté removes his prime minister, his powerful interior minister, and his entire economic team in a two-stage cabinet shuffle. March: Arrest of 17 student leaders at Gamal Abdel Nassar
University in Conakry triggers a nationwide strike by students at all
public universities. April: The International Federation for Human
Rights calls Guinea a “caricature of democracy” where human rights
are consistently violated. July: Conakry is wracked with unrest as people demonstrate against inadequate food supplies, especially rice.
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Introduction
In September 1958, when Guinea under Ahmed Sékou Touré rejected
the Franco-African community proposed by Charles De Gaulle, the
path of dissociation with the former colonizing power chosen was
unique. Until 1984 when Touré died, he and his Parti démocratique de
Guinée (PDG) dominated the nation in an increasingly authoritarian
manner. After Touré’s death, Lansana Conté’s seizure of power marked
the beginning of a dismantling of the 24-year-old centralized, state-run
economy. In its place, a corrupt, arbitrary, and capricious regime has
emerged. Conté, born in 1934, was too ill with diabetes and a suspected
heart condition to walk unassisted in 2004 and seldom appeared in public. Yet, right up to the end, he held a grip on the reins of power in a
semi-feudal regime.
LAND AND PEOPLE
The origin of the name Guinea itself is obscure. Some suggest that
Guinea might be derived from the ancient Niger Basin trading center,
Jenné. More likely it derives, through Portuguese usage, from the
Berber Akal-n-lguinawen or “Land of the Blacks.” Yet another possibility is that it comes from the word geenay, meaning “women” among
the coastal Susu, and somehow this name came to be applied to a widespread area of the African coast.
The modern Republic of Guinea faces southwest to the Atlantic on the
western extension of Africa between 8° and 12° north latitude. Slightly
smaller than Oregon with a total area of 245,857 square kilometers,
Guinea touches on six other African nations; clockwise north to south,
they are Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra
Leone. Guinea is traditionally divided into four natural regions: Lower
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INTRODUCTION
Guinea, the coastal areas; Middle Guinea, which consists chiefly of the
highlands of the Futa Jalon, inland from the sea; Upper Guinea, which
descends gradually northwest towards the Sahelian savanna; and the
Forest Region, which stands astride the watershed between the Niger
River drainage plains and the southward-flowing rivers that exit to the
Atlantic Ocean through Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Climatically, all regions of Guinea share two alternating seasons: a dry
season (November to April) and a wet season (May to October). Rainfall
varies from region to region with as much as 432 centimeters (170 inches)
a year at Conakry on the coast to less than 152 centimeters (60 inches) a
year in Upper Guinea. The rainfall in Middle Guinea ranges from 160 to
231 centimeters (63 to 91 inches) a year, while some areas in the Forest
Region have more than 254 centimeters (100 inches) of rain a year. Temperature ranges also vary according to the different regions. On the coast
and in the Forest Region, the temperature averages 29 degrees Celsius.
(about 82 Fahrenheit). While the Futa Jalon highland of Middle Guinea
may experience January daytime temperatures from 30° C to 35° C (86°
F to 95° F), nighttime temperatures may dip below 10° C (50° F). Midday highs of more than 38° C. (100° F) are not uncommon in Upper
Guinea during the dry season.
The natural drainage systems include the fan-shaped system of the
Niger River and its own main upper basin tributaries, the Tinkisso and
the Milo, which drain more than one-third of the country’s total area
including most of Upper Guinea and much of the Forest Region. In
Upper Guinea, with an average altitude of 307 meters (1,000 feet) and
great ranges in temperature and humidity, agriculture is mostly practiced in the river valleys. Both the Senegal and the Gambia Rivers
have their sources in the Futa Jalon highlands of Middle Guinea. With
12,953 square kilometers (5,000 square miles) over 921 meters (3,000
feet) above sea level, this area is relatively well watered and usually
receives some rain throughout the year, though most falls in the four
months of the wet season. Rivers such as the Rio Nunez, Konkouré,
Fatala and Melikouré, which flow southwest to the Atlantic from the
Futa Jalon, have hydroelectric and/or navigational value. A number of
minor rivers drain the Forest Region boundary area and, because
of the relatively short dry season and violent thunderstorms of the
early rainy season, they furnish water all year and often overflow their
banks.
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Most of Guinea consists of savanna grasslands and orchard shrub,
with soils largely composed of silicates of aluminum hydrate except
along rivers and the tidal areas. Major food crops include bananas,
maize, manioc (cassava), millet, rice, and oil palms; while some coffee
is cultivated for export.
Guinea’s population within the country’s boundaries was estimated at
8.3 million in 2002. This figure assumes some exiles from the Guinean
dDiaspora have returned to Guinea since the death of Sékou Touré. In
the mid-1980s, many Guineans lived in France, Côte d’Ivoire
(750,000), Senegal (700,000), Sierra Leone (250,000), Liberia
(150,000), and Mali (100,000).
Since 1984, three significant population shifts have occurred within the
diaspora: a return to the homeland after Sékou Touré’s death in 1984, a
major move back from Liberia and Sierra Leone as result of civil wars
there since the late 1980s, and a substantial emigration from Guinea because of the deterioration of the economy and the uncertainties of the employment market. These movements have changed the composition and
distribution of the population considerably. The first immigration movement was noticeable in the Futa Jalon and Upper Guinea, regions long opposed to Touré. The second significantly affected the Forest Region and
Coastal Guinea. The third move mostly consisted of Guinean intellectuals, laid-off civil servants (the déflattés), and university students who
faced a bleak employment future after graduation.
Along with such population shifts has come an unprecedented and
uncontrolled growth of cities like Conakry, Labé, Kankan, Kindia,
and Nzérékoré. This growth has been accompanied by major economic, health, and social problems. Conakry, for example, has more
than doubled in size in the last 30 years as has the crime rate and social problems in such shanty neighborhoods as Koronti, Madina,
Ratoma, and Bonfi. With this rapid urban growth, the pressures on
public facilities, health services, transportation, education, and utilities have escalated. Conakry faces major problems such as electric
power breakdowns, periodic disruptions of water supplies, lack of a
good public sewer system, and growing air pollution. In spite of these
problems, Conakry has shown some growth in the private sector and
more openness to international business.
Guinea’s population is composed of a variety of ethnic groups. The
present-day boundaries of Guinea were determined by colonial powers
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with little regard to the ethnic or linguistic groups of African people.
These boundaries, therefore, often split ethnic and linguistic groups.
Within the country, though, the four major geographic regions largely
correspond to four major ethnolinguistic groups. In Lower Guinea,
Susu, a Manding language closely related to the Dialonké language of
Middle Guinea, has largely replaced that of the Landoma, Baga, Nalou,
and other West Atlantic languages once widely spoken in the coastal areas. In the Futa Jalon of Middle Guinea, Fulfuldé (Pular), the Fulbé language is dominant, although minor indigenous ethnic groups like the
Badyarané, Bassari, and Konagi continue to maintain some traditional
ways. Maninkakan, the language of the Maninka, is spoken in Upper
Guinea and is widely used in Middle Guinea. Mande language speakers
have long been penetrating the Forest Region, where three very different linguistic groups are still dominant. These three linguistic areas,
from east to west, are the Kpelle (Guerzé), Loma (Toma), and Kissi. A
number of other minor ethnic groups exist in Guinea and, though the
process of creating a national identity in Guinea made considerable
headway after independence, politics and political parties are still
largely divided along ethnic lines. President Touré had suggested that
ethnicity should not be denied, but it should also be obvious that no ethnic group would survive if Guinea perished because of inter-ethnic rivalries. Yet at his death, ethnic particularism rather than national unity
prevailed in Guinea.
The nature of slash-and-burn subsistence farming, still widespread in
large areas of Guinea, does not allow for a very great population density throughout most of the country. According to the census of December 1996, the population of 7,164,820 had only a 29.1 density per
square kilometer. Though the agricultural potential of the country is
quite high, the people of Guinea face a persistent need to import food.
The préfectures of Labé and Pita in the Futa Jalon, both having agreeable climates and fairly good soil conditions, probably have more than
40 persons per square kilometer. In the Forest Region, the rich agricultural areas around Guéckédou and Nzérékoré may have populations
higher than 30 persons per square kilometer, especially given the influx
of Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees in recent years. Except in fertile areas along the Niger and Milo Rivers, the large stretches of
savanna and savanna woodland in Upper Guinea are very lightly inhabited. This region, encompassing two-fifths of Guinea’s total terri-
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tory, probably has as few as seven persons per square kilometer. The
populations of the Conakry, Boké, Dubréka, and Fria regions in Lower
Guinea have more than tripled since independence as bauxite mining,
bauxite processing, and other industries have grown. Conakry and its
suburban environs on the Kaloum peninsula have more than 2,500 people per square kilometer, while Fria and Dubréka have around 40. At
present the urban population of Guinea is close to 3 million. Uneven urbanization of this sort is creating social, political, and economic problems for Guinea.
PRE-COLONIAL HISTORY
The pre-colonial history of Guinea still remains rather incomplete.
Though archaeological research in Guinea has not made much progress,
evidence seems to indicate that hunting-and-gathering populations for
at least the past 30,000 years have continuously inhabited the area. It
also seems probable that farming has been practiced in the area of
Guinea for at least the past 3,000 years. There is considerable evidence
that iron smelting dates back more than 2,000 years in this part of West
Africa. But until further archaeological evidence is forthcoming, much
of the early history of Guinea remains conjectural.
The pre-colonial history of Guinea after about 1,000 C.E. (Common
Era) becomes somewhat clearer based on written sources in Arabic and
oral traditions. Travelers’ accounts in Arabic and professional history
keepers’ (dyeli, sometimes called griots) oral narratives offer information on the genealogies of royal families and traditions of ethnic groups
who lived in Guinea in the past millennium. For peoples like the Konagi, Baga, and Nalou, who now live on the Atlantic coast, ethnological
evidence supports the view that they lived in the area of modern Guinea
for more than 200 years. Others, like the Susu and Maninka, probably
came into the area about 900 C.E., while the Fulbé, who arrived in large
numbers in the last 450 years, are almost newcomers.
Much of Upper Guinea’s pre-colonial history is closely tied to the
three great centralized savanna empires of West Africa—Ghana, Mali,
and Songhai—that dominated the lands to the north and east of modern Guinea from about 900 to 1550 C.E. Villages and small kingdoms
of the Maninka people located on the headwaters of the Niger River
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began to achieve historical prominence after 1200 C.E. The gold fields
of Buré near modern Siguiri greatly contributed to the wealth of all the
trade-based empires of the western savanna but were certainly very important to the Mali Empire. Oral traditions maintain that the powerful
empire of Ghana, which dates from at least 1,200 years ago, forced the
towns and villages of Upper Guinea to pay equal weights in gold for
the salt that had to pass through Ghana from desert mines in the north.
Oral historians maintain that about 770 years ago, a popular and effective leader, Sundiata Keita, united the various Maninka villages and
groups and defeated Sumanguru Kanté, a war leader who had gained
control over a number of kingdoms that had grown up after the destruction of the Ghana Empire about 930 years ago. According to oral
traditions and archaeological research, Sundiata was born in Niani, a
Maninka village and the former capital of the Mali Empire. Niani is inside Guinea’s present boundaries.
With the decline of the Mali Empire in the late 14th century, new
forces began to control the area of modern Guinea. In the late 15th century, Koli Tenguela (or Temala), a Fulbé leader, invaded and conquered
part of the Futa Jalon with a small number of followers. Originally from
the central Senegal River valley, he passed through the Guinean towns
of Timbo and Labé during his incursion. Because Koli Tenguela’s incursion was so ephemeral and involved mostly local populations as
troops, the number of Fulbé involved was never large. The only longterm effect of these conquests was to establish the Kunda settlement in
the northern part of the Futa Jalon and to push the Dialonka and
Maninka groups to the coast where in later times they often established
themselves as rulers over the local peoples. Not until 300 years later
was a Fulbé-dominated Islamic theocratic kingdom established in the
Futa Jalon by Karamoko Alpha and Ibrahima Sory Sambegu.
The coastal areas were drawn into European market systems from
about 1650 C.E. Local rulers on the coast began to grow in power by recruiting members to their groups with the promise of imported trade
goods. Though not one of the major slave-trading areas of West Africa,
Guinea was affected by the wars and disruption occasioned by this
trade. By the end of the slave trade after 1800 CEC.E., European trade
goods had replaced many types of locally produced goods. Consequently, the French and British commercial interests that had achieved
dominance on the coast, were poised to intervene even more deeply in
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internal African affairs. It should not be supposed, though, that British
and ultimately French trading interests played a very important role in
the Guinean interior before about 150 years ago.
About 1600 C.E., increasing numbers of Fulbé created a theocratic
Muslim state in the Futa Jalon. This state was torn by internal dissent
until the French incorporated the Futa Jalon into their colonial system
in 1896 with the defeat of Bokar Biro at the Battle of Porédaka. The
Fulbé leadership of this state firmly established the Islamic theory of a
God-ruled state in the minds of many Guineans.
About 1740 C.E., a Muslim religious leader from the Futa Toro in upper Senegal returned to West Africa from Mecca and Sokoto. This man,
Al Hajj Umar Tall, spent a few years in Kankan and settled in the Futa
Jalon. He began teaching a simple, devout form of Islam—the Tijaniyya. Pressured to leave the Futa Jalon as a potential threat to the existing Muslim state, he moved to Dinguiraye near the Buré gold fields
in Upper Guinea. From there he gathered forces and launched an attack
on his own original homeland and the Bambara states to the east. After
his death, internal revolts and French pressures destroyed his forces.
The French did not defeat all African leaders so easily. Almamy
Samory Touré, a Guinean Maninka leader, had proposed an alliance
against the French with Umar’s son, Ahmad, in 1883 or 1884. Though
Ahmad turned down this alliance, the story of Samory remains an important part of Guinean history. The first president of Guinea, Ahmed
Sékou Touré, claimed descent from Samory, and Guinean school children are taught that Samory was a forerunner of national independence
because of his determined resistance to the French. As the leader of an
independent Maninka state in southeast Guinea from 1880 until 1898,
he provided the French with strong military resistance. However, the
French had the greater sources of supply. Samory was never able to obtain enough modern weapons to resist the French in the long run.
Samory’s efforts at unification failed for a number of reasons.
Though he saw the growing threat the French posed to African autonomy, his relations with other African leaders were hegemonistic. The
Futa Jalon theocracy, for example, resisted associating with Samory for
fear of being absorbed into his empire. Bademba of Ségu was reluctant
to associate with the former aggressor against Sikasso during the Tieba
era. Samory’s attack on Kong made the Kong leaders very cautious in
dealing with both the French colonial troops and Samory’s forces.
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Members of groups in the southern forest region refused to join Samory
since he often sold members of these groups into slavery.
The French captured Samory in 1899 and exiled him to Gabon where
he died. Belatedly and in isolation, small groups of Africans continued
to resist the French until the end of World War I. But treaties with Great
Britain and Liberia had by then already established the boundaries of
colonial French Guinea.
COLONIAL HISTORY
French rule brought some important changes in the social and political
structure of African societies. Large-scale African polities, such as those
that evolved under Samory Touré, Al Hajj Umar Tall, and the theocratic
states of the Futa Jalon, were replaced by French administrative structures.
Private ownership of former communal land and the expansion of commercial and service occupations resulted in the development of civil servants, teachers, small shop and plantation owners, medical and military
personnel, and transport operators. Gradually an urban elite evolved thatwhich adopted some of the salient aspects of French culture. However, this
adoption was most often adapted to a national culture that continued to be
fundamentally African and rural. Even for this elite, the notions of family,
ethnicity, and regional origins remained relatively unchanged and continued to play a significant role in political alliances and in public offices.
After World War II, political activities among the chiefs and the
French-educated elite grew. In the early 1950s, some elements of this
elite were politically affiliated with French socialists. In Guinea, Yaciné
Diallo was one such person, but a number of more indigenous organizations were gaining prominence. In 1952, Sékou Touré became secretary- general of the Parti démocratique de Guinée (PDG) founded in
May 1947 as the Guinea branch of the Rassemblement démocratique
africain (RDA), which had been founded in Bamako in 1946. With the
backing of most Guinean teachers, the core of the “intelligentsia” and
solid labor support, Sékou Touré won country- area by-elections to the
West African Territorial Assembly in August 1953, demonstrating his
ability to attract the rural vote as well as support from urban voters.
Overtly mobilizing the support of the rural populations, the youth, and
the women, PDG candidates Sékou Touré and Saifoulaye Diallo won two
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of the three seats in the French National Assembly. During the second
half of the 1950s, Sékou Touré continued to rise to the top of the Guinean
leadership. In 1957, he became mayor of Conakry, and in the same year
he was appointed vice -chairman of the Council of Government responsible for the colony’s internal affairs. On the eve of independence, both
the French and local opposition forces realized that Touré was a major political leader. The result was a rather complex compromise between the
main political factions in the colony. Touré and his partners had to deal
with the colonial administration, on the one hand, and the local opposition groups, on the other.
The June 1956 passage of the Gaston Deferre loi cadre plan placed
Touré in a difficult position. The law’s provisions for the gradual devolution of legislative powers to the individual territorial assemblies would
result in the Balkanization of both French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa, with each territory dealing directly with the French Republic. Touré was forced to continue to operate within the French-imposed
system, increasing Guinean initiatives while at the same time attempting
to maintain some semblance of unity for French West and Equatorial
Africa.
The June 1958 return to power of General Charles de Gaulle in
France and the draft constitution of the Fifth Republic that lacked any
provision for a federal structure for French West Africa (and also for
French Equatorial Africa) heightened the tension. In a speech in
Conakry in August 1958, General de Gaulle made it clear that no compromise was possible. In mid-September, the PDG under Touré called
for a “no” vote in the draft constitution referendum. Other Guinean
leaders joined with Touré and the PDG urging the rejection of this
highly centralized and French-controlled constitution in the 28 September 1958 referendum.
TOURÉ ERA
The French reaction to Guinea’s “no” vote probably caught Sékou
Touré by surprise. French government personnel, given no more than
two months to assist in the transfer of authority, were often sent to posts
elsewhere in French West Africa within days of the vote. On 2 October
1958, Guinean independence was formally proclaimed. Cut off from
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budgetary assistance and the favored-nation status of Guinean exports
to France, faced with a shortage of trained administrators, teachers, military staff, and medical personnel, Guinea began independence with no
resources other than a highly enthusiastic and hopeful population. The
strong unifying force of a charismatic leader and a popularly based
party in the early years of independence seemed to have begun to overcome interpersonal conflicts, the difficulties of rising expectations
among the small Guinean elite, ethnic cleavages, and the great lack of
economic resources and infrastructure for development.
Over the first 10 years of independence, Guinea continued to occupy a
special position among African states in its unqualified rejection of colonial control or economic domination by more developed nations. Taking
a militant pan-Africanist stance in African affairs, one of “positive neutralism” in the Cold War, and combining a unique articulation of African
socialism and “cultural revolution” in internal affairs, Guinea presented
an image of radical experimentation in social and political development
in Africa. Unfortunately, the rate of economic development was rather
slow, and, from 1960 on, a number of attempts were made to overthrow
the government of Sékou Touré by assassinations, coups d’état, and invasions. Touré made good use of the opportunities afforded by such attempts, both real and imagined, to purge his opponents in the party and
the government. Ibrahima Barry (Barry III) was hanged in 1971, Saliou
Koumbassa was jailed for eight years in 1972, and Boubacar Telli Diallo
was tortured to death in 1976.
In April 1960, a plot to overthrow the government by the armed
forces was alleged by the PDG. The instigators of this plot were apparently Guinean citizens who resented the anti-capitalist socialist thrust of
the PDG regime. In November 1961, Touré accused Soviet embassy
personnel of supporting a teachers’ strike, which was crushed with great
severity. Thousands of students were jailed, and some died. All the
schools were closed for a considerable period. Many prominent teachers fled to neighboring countries to reinforce the opposition to Touré.
The government was reshuffled to strengthen Touré’s control. The
teachers’ union was dismantled, and its leaders received severe jail sentences. In late 1965, leaders of a group seeking to form an opposition
party were arrested and charged with plotting to bring about the downfall of Touré’s government. In February 1969, the army was purged
along with other dissidents in the party, and in June 1969, an apparent
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assassination attempt on Touré, blamed on an exile opposition group,
was almost successful.
In November 1970, a sea-borne invasion of Conakry, launched by
Portuguese troops and Guinean exiles, proved abortive. Another
purge of the Guinean political and administrative elite followed. In
July 1971, the army officer corps was similarly purged, and in April
1973, President Touré accused a number of cabinet ministers of plotting to overthrow his government. Though a substantial external
anti-Touré force continued to grow, it was split into so many differing factions that its only noticeable effect was to make Touré and his
regime apprehensive and inclined to deal ruthlessly with any internal
opposition, even when such opposition was more in Touré’s mind
than real.
In 1975, the conflicts between members of Touré’s regime and their
opponents again took a violent form. In this year, the regime concocted
a so-called Complot Cheytan (Satan’s Plot) to target merchants mostly
from the Maninka ethnic group (especially those from Kankan, Guinea’s
second largest city). A year later, Touré focused on the Fulbé intellectual
leadership and devised the Complot des Peulhs (the Fulbé Plot). Diallo
Telli, the former Ssecretary-general of the Organization of African Unity,
and several prominent Fulbé intellectuals, along with Guineans of other
ethnic groups, were executed without trial.
Weakening economic conditions added to Touré’s troubles. Smuggling and illegal market activities grew. Touré’s words gradually ceased
to impress the majority of Guineans who were experiencing a diminishing standard of living. Popular support for Touré’s highly centralized
and personalized government declined. Finally economic mismanagement led to public riots in 1977 that were launched by market women
of the Madina market in Conakry and forced Touré to make radical
changes in his policies. To stay in office, Touré had to solve pressing
economic problems, and he could not do this without external assistance. Warming the tone of his diplomatic overtures toward France, he
renewed his ties with the West African Francophone community by
restoring full diplomatic relations with Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire during the Monrovia Conference. At the same time, he improved his relations with Sierra Leone and Liberia through the Mano River Union.
Touré launched an “Offensive Diplomatique” seeking to gain acceptance with the West, improve his public image with the rest of Africa,
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and gain financial support from the rich Arab countries. These diplomatic overtures laid the necessary groundwork for launching structural
reforms that would, supposedly, bring about major changes in the country’s economy. Touré called upon international organizations—the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, among others—
to help set a course toward a market economy. This shift of national
priorities was slow to start since it was conducted under Touré’s own
leadership. His approach was to limit real changes in the economic sector and make cosmetic modifications in all other areas. Touré hoped to
satisfy the Guinean people’s demand for economic improvement without altering his tight control over the nation. Despite these precautions,
the reforms of the late 1970s opened the doors to more drastic changes
that ultimately led to the 3 April 1984 coup d’état ending three decades
of Touré’s leadership.
Sékou Touré’s death during emergency heart surgery in Cleveland,
Ohio, on 26 March 1984, came as a surprise to those outside the small
group of predominantly Maninka associates, particularly his family,
who occupied leading government posts. Initially little change was apparent. Prime Minister Lansana Béavogui, a Toma, was appointed interim president by the PDG leadership, and an orderly transition seemed
likely. Under the surface, though, disputes soon emerged over the succession among the inner clique, many of whom were drawing illicit
earnings from their positions.
LANSANA CONTÉ ERA
On 3 April 1984, a day before the PDG congress was to convene, the
army seized power, arresting the members of the government and the
party leadership. A supreme military committee was set up with considerable popular support at the outset. The main force behind the military coup d’état was a group of army officers backed by a team of educated civilians from the teacher-training school of Maneah. Two
main leaders soon emerged. One of these was the deputy chief of staff,
Colonel Lansana Conté, an officer of Susu origin who worked his way
to the top of the military ranks through cooperation with President
Touré and through service during the guerrilla war against the Portuguese in Guinea-Bissau. The second was Colonel Diarra Traoré, a
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Maninka officer and a PDG insider who had occupied several important positions, including that of regional governor and member of the
central committee of the PDG.
Very little unity existed from the start among those who seized power
on 3 April. At first, the sharing of leadership diffused the potential for
conflict; Colonel Diarra Traoré, the driving force behind the military
takeover, accepted the post of prime minister and supported Conté as
the president of the republic. A Comité militaire de rédressement national (CMRN) was created to replace the legislative body, and both
Conté and Traoré played key roles in shaping the destiny of this committee. But the difficulty of establishing efficiency and order in the aftermath of Touré’s rule soon brought tensions to a head. After eight
months plagued by ethnic and personal rivalries, President Conté demoted Prime Minister Traoré. An alleged coup d’état led by Traoré
ended following several hours of fighting and anti-Maninka looting on
5 July 1985.
During the period immediately following the alleged coup attempt,
political prisoners from the First Republic government, most of them
belonging to the Touré and Keita families, were executed without trials
along with scores of Maninka officers. Persistent ethnic tensions and the
social unrest caused by attempts at economic reforms, such as the devaluation of the Guinean currency imposed by the IMF, posed major obstacles to President Conté’s rule.
However, Conté was able to open a relatively democratic dialogue
that led to acceptance of the loi fondamentale, a set of basic laws designed to guide the drafting of a constitution and the institution of a
democratic system of public governance. These laws were passed in
a context of volatile and fast-paced reshaping of Guinean public life.
What was once a centralized monolithic public administration, ruled as
a single-party state by Sékou Touré and then the army after the 1984
coup, diversified rapidly. Public life in Guinea in the 1990s was a swirl
of opposition parties, worker’s unions, and newspapers opposed to the
Conté regime. By October 1992, more than 40 political parties and associations existed. Most of these parties were relatively minor, and their
effects have not proven very lasting. As the trend continued, the country experienced an erosion of central authority, more public questioning
of governmental decisions, and the development of significant opposition forces inclined to challenge the government.
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These opposition forces were nurtured by the deterioration of living
conditions in Guinea. Despite significant backup from important international institutions, economic adjustment reforms were undermined by
rising inflation. Added to this were rapid population growth, uncertainties in the rural economy, an international decline of market value of
bauxite and alumina (Guinea’s major export), high levels of political
conflict fueled by ethnic and regional diversity, and poor administrative
and management structures that hampered any positive effects of reform.
The negative consequences of the internal situation in Guinea were
magnified by external factors beyond the control of the country’s leadership. The Liberian civil war and political instability in Sierra Leone
increased the migration of poor populations toward Guéckédou and
Nzérékoré in the Forest Region, while other towns, such as Boké,
Conakry, Fria, Kankan, Kindia, and Labé, continued to swell as rural
populations sought the illusive hope of a better life. The urban infrastructures of these cities and towns could not support these influxes, and
shantytowns have developed in each of them. Under such conditions,
the implementation of programs based on drastic political and economic
changes was a considerable challenge to members of a military government torn between the need to transform the socioeconomic landscape
and the fear of being swept away by the momentum.
On Sunday 20 December 1993, it was reported that General Lansana
Conté received 51.7 percent of the vote in elections marked by some violence. None of the seven opposition candidates garnered a significant
portion of the rest of the vote. In February 1995, Conté readopted his
military rank. In the National Assembly election of 11 June 1995, 37
seats were taken by members of the three major opposition parties including Alpha Condé’s Rassemblement populaire guinéen (RPG), Siradou Diallo’s Parti pour le renouveau et le progrès (PRP) and Mamadou
Boye Bah’s Union pour la nouvelle république (UNR). In July 1995,
members of the three major opposition groups joined to form the Coordination de l’opposition démocratique (CODEM).
Nearly toppled by an army mutiny accompanied by widespread looting in Conakry in early February 1996, President Conté retained power
by initially offering some concessions to army officers and other opposition members. He then reorganized and restructured the military.
Opposition parties were suppressed, and charges that these and other
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opposition forces were conspiring with rebels and mercenaries in
Sierra Leone and Liberia to overthrow Conté were widely circulated
in 1997. Persons accused of participation in the rebellion were subject
to prosecution through 1997, and 1998 was marked by violence. Conté
emerged with a reported 56.1 percent of the valid vote out of a 71.4
percent voter turnout. President Conté was inaugurated on 30 January
1999, purged the army in mid-March, postponed local government
elections in early June, and faced continued unrest of the military that
was linked, frequently, to the insecurity along the Sierra Leone and
Liberian borders.
As the economy continued to decline, Conté reshuffled the government and prosecuted a very debatable case of treason against Alpha
Condé, the RPG leader. Local elections on 25 June 2000 came off relatively calmly, but Condé was given a five-year sentence for treason in
September 2000, and an armed rebellion in southeast Guinea erupted
the same month. Attacks on Guéckédou in early December 2000 led to
at least 86 deaths. Fighting along the border with Liberia and Sierra
Leone continued throughout 2001. In mid-June, Conté announced his
intention to hold a national referendum on a proposed constitutional
amendment that would allow him to serve a third presidential term, to
be extended to seven years. Though Conté granted a presidential pardon
to an ailing Condé in June 2000, he had the headquarters of the Union
de forces républicaines (UFR), the party led by former pPrime Mminister Sydia Touré, closed. Touré had recently announced the formation of
a group to oppose Conté’s proposed constitutional amendment.
In the 30 June 2002 Guinean legislative elections, the members of the
opposition and the independent press reported numerous irregularities.
The failure of the opposition to win a single geographic district was
held to be almost inconceivable by many independent sources. The officially 72 percent turnout rate was far above that reported by most of
these same sources. It should be noted that Alpha Condé’s and Sidia
Touré’s parties did not participate.
The speculation about the state of President Conté’s health in the
fall of 2004 resembled the situation in Sékou Touré’s last hours.
Conté, a chain-smoking diabetic, seldom appears in public and is said
to have a heart condition as well as a penchant for alcoholic beverages. Open animosity exists between Conté and the president of the
National Assembly, Aboubacar Sompare, and the prime minister,
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INTRODUCTION
Lamine Sidimé, seldom consulted, was removed from power early in
2004. Fulbé and Maninka leadership is almost completely excluded
from any voice under Conté’s personalized rule. Even the senior
members of the Parti de l’unité et du progrès have been marginalized.
A collection of Susu relatives and business associates seems to be the
only presidential advisers. Conté appears to be playing one faction
against another so that no one group becomes powerful enough to upset him as president.
Conté’s failure to groom a successor will probably lead to political
instability once he dies. If junior officers do not fill the looming power
vacuum and launch a coup d’état, senior armed forces officers would be
the only group able to take control and prevent the disintegration of the
country into anarchy dominated by regional power holders.