Stop Lecturing Us, Guinea Junta Leader Tells West

Guinea’s junta leader, Col Mamady Doumbouya, has said the Western model of democracy does not work in Africa, as he defended the use of military intervention.

He told the UN General Assembly in New York that the continent was suffering from a “model of governance that has been imposed on us” and which was “having trouble adapting to our reality”.

“It is time to stop lecturing us and stop treating us with condescension like children,” he added.

Col Doumbouya took power in a coup in 2021, ousting President Alpha Condé.

He defended taking that action to the UN assembly saying it was “to save our country from complete chaos”.

At the time, news of the coup was greeted by excited crowds in the capital, Conakry, as many were relieved that President Condé had been deposed.

But the country was suspended from the regional group, Ecowas, in the wake of the military takeover, with regional leaders calling for a return to civilian rule.

Last year, Col Doumbouya’s did give a timetable for a transition to elected government after talks with Ecowas but there has been little progress in organising a vote, the Reuters news agency reports.

Guinea is among a number of countries in western and central Africa that have seen coups in recent years including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Gabon.

The coups have been strongly condemned by Ecowas, the African Union and the UN.

BBC/Jide Johnson.