By Martins Agbonlahor
Photos: Wikimedia Commons\YouTube Screenshots
When Guinea’s Head-of-State, General Mamady Doumbouya overthrew the democratically-elected government of Alpha Condé on 5 September 2021, I warned, in spite of his sanctimonious, sugar-coated promises of “a stable, credible, and transparent government,” that he and his masked, trigger-happy henchmen were irresponsible chameleons who would map out devious and unrighteous strategies to perpetuate their military regime. And how prophetic could I be now that the so-called “stable” government has witnessed a Humpty-Dumpty fall to mere nothingness!
On his assumption of office as the new military leader on that ill-fated afternoon, a blizzard of criticisms had descended on his regime, many, coming from the American government, The United Nations, Amnesty International, and of course, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The now-christened “General” Doumbouya, who had the rank of Colonel during the putsch, was to announce in mid-2022, that his regime would be “brief,” and thus, a two-year transition to democracy ending in 2024, was institutionalized.
But alas, just this Monday, 19 February, and few weeks to the first quarter of the year in which democracy would have flourished again in the country, the military leader suddenly began to sing a mournful song, lamenting the demise of his own regime and going on the rampage like a bull in a china shop. He has now sacked his erstwhile trusted lieutenants, heads of parastatals and dozens of real and imagined “political enemies,” their bank accounts, frozen, and passports, confiscated.
General Doumbouya also closed the country’s borders, warning fellow Guineans against what he termed “careless talk,” which I see as a cowardly attempt to suppress free speech, and poison the well of public discussion. Now, he has demonstrated true-to-type, that he has a small brain like the dinosaur, in his inability to reason critically, that two years does not equal eternity.
I know when an egregious liar speaks.
The Guinean ruler does not mean well. Believe me. His series of grandiose remarks, maladroit speeches, and verbal gymnastics prove it. He does not love Guinea either. He just wants to be seen as the “tough guy,” with those dark goggles, and uniform, decorated with grotesque epaulettes: a miniature version and macabre replica of General Idi Amin Dada, the self-acclaimed “Conqueror of the British Empire!”
Again, what General Doumbouya and his gang of useful idiots fail to understand is that democracy is not soldiering, where those who will not obey orders, are whipped into line like cattle, or dragged before a Kangarooic court martial. It is more than that. Democracy encompasses the rule of law, not the reign of bullets.
I can almost feel the intense confusion running through the scrambled mind of the goggled General, who has now bitten off more than he can chew. I fear his ignorance of statecraft may lead him to become more dictatorial, churning out more draconian decrees to suppress his suffering people à la Yahya Jammeh, formerly of Gambia. His shenanigans so far, is tantamount to a cowardly avoidance of responsibility. This is not leadership.
“So, what’s General Doumbouya up to?” you may ask.
He wants to extend his rule, I’d say. And the telltale signs are there: If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then, it probably is a duck. But the people of Guinea must not allow their beloved country to be hijacked and led towards a cul-de-sac. Questions need to be asked as to why his “trusted” men occupying various positions suddenly became “corrupt people,” necessitating in him dissolving his own government, when return to democratic rule was just around the corner. Shouldn’t he, too, be vicariously liable for the so-called “corruption” of his own lieutenants and go the same way as them?
General Doumbouya must address the nation and tell the Guinean people his Option B, now that the ship of state has fallen apart, and her sailors, chastised with whips. It would be certifiably insane to leave the people to blind guesses, rumors, and conjectures even as they wait with bated breath.
Instead of addressing this burning issue, however, the General perambulates up and down the local market squares, swathed in the country’s flags, and deceptively proclaiming himself “a patriotic soldier.” What a pile of horse manure! For the fact that China addresses itself as “The People’s Republic of China” doesn’t mean that she’s not anti-people.
I have an inkling that General Doumbouya wants to transmogrify into a civilian president and tighten his grip on power. This is not unusual in African politics, as the late General Sani Abacha of Nigeria had initiated the same process between 1995 and 1998. He was on his way to becoming a full-blown civilian dictator had death not dealt him the sledgehammer to our eternal joy and relief.
The coming months will reveal what this General has in mind, because he cannot continue to deceive the people in perpetuity. Truth suppressed to earth will rise again.
I use this opportunity, therefore, to call on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to intervene and call this erring member of theirs to order.
I also call on the United Nations to keep an eye on what’s happening in Guinea even though General Doumbouya once took a swipe at the body, telling them to “stop lecturing Africa.” The General, I think, was only reacting to the abysmal level of the development of his consciousness. He’s cocooned in his own weird world, believing the entire human race will simply look the other way, as his band of dreadfully masked soldiers run riot, visiting their cruelties on fellow citizens and railroading others to jails.
General Doumbouya is power-drunk, and would do anything to remain notoriously relevant. Like the biblical Samson, he presently has his arms wrapped around the pillar, ready to pull down the Guinean nation in his descent into hell.
Guinea must be saved.
Author’s Note: read my previous article on Colonel Doumbouya and his jiggery-pokery
Martins Agbonlahor is a trained lawyer, journalist and author. He resides in Greater Manchester, The United Kingdom.
