Twenty-four hours before the inauguration of the Guinean president, Alpha Conde, for his third term, scheduled at the fully renovated Mohamed V palace, security measures are impressive in the capital, Conakry, PANA reported.
Men in military fatigues, kepi screwed on the head, equipped with walkie-talkies, often with nerves on edge, filter the entrances into the commune of Kaloum, headquarters of the presidential palace, administrative services and banks, among others.
Following a call for a demonstration, scheduled for Tuesday, against the third term of the president, by the opposition umbrella National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), the government has repeatedly warned against such a protest. It then declared a paid holiday for Tuesday.
Guinea is preparing to host a dozen heads of state and government, mostly from the countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), with the exception of Chadian and Congolese presidents.
Notable absentees on the list are President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Adama Barrow of Gambia and President Umarou Cisoko Emballo of Guinea-Bissau.
Declared winner by the Constitutional Court of the presidential election of 18 October with 59.50 per cent of the votes, against his main challenger, Mamadou Cellou Dalein Diallo, credited with 33.49 per cent, Alpha Condé will become the first president of the Fourth Republic following the adoption last March of a new Constitution. He will be sworn in for a six-year term, renewable once.
The constitutional referendum had been boycotted by the opposition following the call by the FNDC, which had also asked its supporters not to participate in the presidential election, but in which three of its members, all party leaders, including former Prime Minister Mamadou Cellou Dalein Diallo, took part.
President Condé was elected successively in 2010 and 2015 for five-year terms, renewable once under the Constitution, established but not adopted, under the military transition that replaced the regime of the late President Lansana Conté. (PANA/NAN)
