Tensions High Ahead of Guinea's Presidential Election

Guinea’s incumbent president Alpha Condé, whose bid for reelection has sparked unrest and concerns of violence at the October 18 presidential election (Flickr)

When voters in Guinea head to the polls on October 18, they will have a choice between twelve different presidential candidates. Although incumbent Alpha Condé has already served the maximum two terms, he, too, stands as a contender on the ballot.

Initially elected in 2010 as Guinea’s first democratically chosen leader, Condé has significantly advanced the country’s economy and garnered praise for his responses to the Ebola and Covid-19 health crisis. Nevertheless, Condé faces mounting domestic and international criticism for human rights abuses and an increasingly authoritarian style of governance. 

Opposition figures such as Cellou Dalein Diallo, widely seen as Condé’s primary competitor, have suffered persistent harassment, with security forces often resorting to lethal force in order to curb political unrest. 

Condé pushed through an amended constitution on March 22 that, despite the stated goal of modernizing the country, truly serves as a guise for the leader to remain in office. The new constitution allows him to side-step the original two-term limit, making him eligible for another twelve years in office.

This decision sparked an extended period of intercommunal violence and state-sponsored human rights abuses. In its September 2020 report, Human Rights Watch documented that clashes between pro-government supporters and oppositionists killed at least 32 people and injured more than 90. Witnesses explained that neither security forces nor political authorities responded to desperate calls to stop the mobs from attacking civilians or destroying property. 

A 66-year-old resident in Nzérékoré, Guinea’s second-largest city and the center of political unrest in March, called a senior state government official when he heard gunshots, and received the reply that he should “defend [his] home by throwing stones back at the violent mob.” The official took no action to prevent the situation from descending into all-out chaos. 

Security forces also contributed to the violence by allegedly killing two civilians (including a pregnant woman), beating and arbitrarily arresting dozens, raiding homes, and looting and damaging properties. 

The government later attempted to veil the incident, initially reporting that only four people had died. Human rights groups also strongly suspect that officials removed the bodies of over two dozen people from Nzérékoré and secretly buried them in a mass grave. 

Considering its violent history, Guinea’s international partners, including the European Union, United Nations, African Union, and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), fear that this weekend’s presidential election has the potential to turn bloody.