/ 10 November 2007

Doubts abound over Guinea leader’s capabilities

The enthusiasm that came with the storming to office of Guinea's latest prime minister has waned and there are doubts over his capability to lift the country out of misery, a global think tank said on Friday. Lansana Kouyate, an ex-United Nations diplomat, was early this year named Prime Minister by ailing President Lansana Conte.

The enthusiasm that came with the storming to office of Guinea’s latest prime minister has waned and there are doubts over his capability to lift the country out of misery, a global think tank said on Friday.

Lansana Kouyate, an ex-United Nations diplomat, was early this year named Prime Minister by ailing President Lansana Conte, who bowed to union demands after violent unrest and agreed to an independent head of government with broader powers than his predecessors.

But in its latest report, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) warns that Kouyate has to act fast to avoid losing credibility and prevent the country slipping back into the iron-fisted rule of Conte.

”Initial enthusiasm for Kouyate has been replaced by doubt over the capabilities and will of the new government to break with the Conte system and seriously tackle the daily economic difficulties,” said Carolyn Norris, ICG chief in West Africa.

The report adds that ”10 months after an unprecedented popular revolt shook the 23-year regime of … Conte and more than half-a-year after new government was formed, Guinea’s stability is as fragile as ever”.

The ICG said the popular union-led movement that brought Kouyate to office is ”deeply fragmented”, creating an opportunity for Conte to regain control. ”The honeymoon of … Kouyate, the ex-diplomat entrusted with producing ‘change’, is over,” it said.

The poverty-stricken former French colony of 9,4-million people has been ruled by Conte (73) since he came to power in a 1984 bloodless military coup, but he suffers from diabetes and memory lapses.

In January, trade unions launched nationwide mass strikes to protest against economic hardship and corruption, and the conflict escalated with demonstrations calling on Conte to step down.

After weeks of bloodshed in which at least 137 people died at the hands of security forces trying to put down the strike, he named Kouyate.

The respected think tank suggested that Kouyate needs to organise elections by May next year, among other measures. ”Free, fair and transparent legislative elections are needed in the next six months as a first step to dismantle Conte’s system through democratic means,” said the ICG.

The elections, which were due in June this year, have been delayed after the unrest held up preparations. But no new date has been set yet.

Kouyate should also openly broaden his governing base by involving the unions, political parties and civil society movement to draw up a reform agenda and open up dialogue with the army on military reforms, suggested the ICG.

”Without such measures, Guinea’s crisis is likely to return, quite possibly in the form of less orderly demonstrations than early in the year, which could easily tip the country back into violence and set the stage for restoration of the discredited Conte regime or a coup,” said the organisation.

Guinea, which according to global watchdog Transparency International is Africa’s most corrupt country, has vast mineral resources, including bauxite, used to produce aluminium, but is rated among the world’s 20 most poverty-stricken countries. — Sapa-AFP