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PoliticsAfrica

African Union suspends Guinea after military coup

September 10, 2021

The move comes after a military junta arrested Guinea's President Alpha Conde and dissolved the country's constitution.

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Guinea coup leader Lieutenant Colonel Mamady Doumbouya
Guinea's ruling military junta deposed President Alpha Conde and accused him of corruption Image: CELLOU BINANI/AFP/ Getty Images

The African Union (AU) said on Friday that it was suspending Guinea's membership in the bloc after a military junta overthrew the government.

What did the African Union say?  

The bloc said on Twitter that the country was suspended from all AU activities and decision-making bodies. 

The AU Department for Political Affairs, Peace and Security urged AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki "to engage with shareholders in the region."

Guinea was one of the AU's founding members. The AU aims to achieve greater political integration on the continent and promotes human rights.

The ruling junta, led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, took control of the West African country on Sunday and arrested President Alpha Conde. Junta leaders have accused Conde of being corrupt. 

Guinea's military leaders have suspended the constitution and closed the country's borders. In addition, they have frozen government bank accounts to seize state assets.  

Guinea junta pressured by ECOWAS, UN 

Guinea was recently suspended from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) due to the coup. The 15-nation bloc has called for an "immediate return to constitutional order" in the country, with an ECOWAS delegation having arrived in the country's capital, Conakry, on Friday to hold talks with the junta. 

The visiting ECOWAS delegation said Friday that ousted President Alpha Conde was in good health. ECOWAS Commission President Jean-Claude Kassi Brou said he had seen Conde and that the ousted president is "well."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also condemned the ruling military junta and called for Conde's release.  

Conde, who came into office in 2010, was the country's first democratically-elected leader since independence from France in 1958. He won a third term last year in the 2020 presidential election, with the opposition deeming it fraudulent and violent demonstrations taking place after the results.   

Although the country is rich in minerals such as bauxite, much of the population lives in poverty.  

wd/msh (AFP. Reuters)