The Guinean putschists who captured President Alpha Condé and announced the dissolution of the institutions should say more on Monday about their roadmap after a coup widely condemned by the international community but greeted by scenes of jubilation in Conakry.
Read also Guinea: the putschists announce a curfew throughout the country
The putschists summoned the outgoing ministers and the presidents of the institutions to a meeting Monday at 11 a.m. (local and GMT) at the People's Palace, seat of the parliament, in a format they did not specify.
"
Any refusal to stand will be considered a rebellion,
" they warned.
Ending "endemic corruption"
The Guinean special forces led by their commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, say, with supporting images, that they captured the Head of State to put an end to "
financial mismanagement, poverty and endemic corruption
" or "
The instrumentalisation of justice (and) the trampling of citizens
'
rights
".
Read also In Guinea, special forces demand the seizure of power and the arrest of President Alpha Condé
A striking video of President Condé, broadcast by the putschists, shows him calm, but undone, in jeans and a shirt on a sofa.
The putschists assured him that he was in good health and well treated.
The soldiers say they want to return "
the policy to the people
".
They proclaimed to dissolve the government, the institutions and the Constitution which Conde had adopted in 2020 and which he had used to run for a third term the same year, despite months of murderous contestation.
They promised a period of transition, like the Malian neighbor, the scene of a putsch also recently.
They announced a curfew and the closure of land and air borders.
In the evening, they announced on the television news to replace the ministers with the secretaries general of each ministry, and the prefects, sub-prefects and regional governors with soldiers.
They called on officials to "
resume work on Monday
".
Months of crisis in the country
Their surprise coup completes months of serious political and economic crisis, aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic, under the very personalized, authoritarian presidency according to his detractors, of President Condé, in power since 2010 but increasingly isolated.
Read also France condemns the coup attempt, calls for the release of President Condé
This coup d'état is part of the tormented history of this poor and tried country despite considerable mineral and hydrological resources, ruled for decades since independence in 1958 by authoritarian or dictatorial regimes, and accustomed to brutal actions by its armed forces.
No deaths, however, were officially reported on Monday after the putsch, despite the intense crackle of automatic weapons in central Conakry on Sunday morning.
No major incident was reported overnight from Sunday to Monday.
Third African coup in one year
It is a new coup in sub-Saharan Africa in one year, after Mali in 2020 or Chad in 2021. The apparent epilogue of more than ten years of the Condé regime has given rise to scenes of joy in different neighborhoods of the capital, especially in the suburbs deemed favorable to the opposition.
Read alsoNew coup by the junta in Mali
On the other hand, it has aroused broad international condemnation, from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, to the African Union, including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union. . France said it joined the condemnation of ECOWAS and the call for "
the immediate and unconditional release of President Condé
". The United States also condemned the coup, which it warned could "
limit
" the American ability to support Guinea. President Condé has increasingly turned to China, Russia and Turkey in recent years.
The main leaders of the Guinean opposition have not yet fully commented on the events. But the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC), a coalition of political movements and civil society which led the protest against the third term, took note of the "
arrest of the dictator
" and of the statements of the military on the Constitution.