Guinea's Doumbouya: a coup leader in search of legitimate power

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CONAKRY - He has traded in his military fatigues for civilian clothes but still rules Guinea with an iron fist: Junta leader Mamady Doumbouya intends to legitimise his rule of the west African country in presidential elections on Sunday.

Seated behind a desk wearing a white cap and T-shirt emblazoned with his name and "Building Together" campaign slogan, the 41-year-old promised "peace and stability" in a video released in early December.

It was the only public statement made by the coup leader during his campaign.

Despite his initial promise to return power to civilians when he took over in 2021, Doumbouya is running for president, in an election with all the main opposition barred.

As the vote approached, Doumbouya's usual camouflage fatigues and red beret gave way to civilian clothes for his rare public appearances, always surrounded by men from the Special Forces Group, the military unit from which he hails.

Guinea junta leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya at his swearing in ceremony as president of the country transition on October 1, 2021 in Conakry.

It was as head of these forces that then-colonel Doumbouya stormed the presidential palace in September 2021 and ousted civilian president Alpha Conde, who had been in power for some 11 years.

The government seizure by the career soldier was initially welcomed by Guineans after protests were violently repressed amid Conde's win of a third term.

The new strongman promised that no member of the junta would run for office in elections meant to return power to civilians, which were to be held at the end of a transition period.

Since then, Doumbouya has promoted himself to general and reneged on that promise, while silencing dissent.

Repression

Under Doumbouya, several political parties and media outlets have been suspended, demonstrations were banned in 2022 and repressed, and numerous opposition and civil society leaders have been arrested, convicted or forced into exile.

Reports of enforced disappearances and kidnappings have multiplied in recent years.

Holed up in the Mohammed V presidential palace overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in the capital, Conakry, Doumbouya rarely speaks publicly.

It is his prime minister, Amadou Oury Bah, and his spokesman, Amara Camara, who instead have crisscrossed the country in recent weeks, campaigning on his behalf.

Running as an independent candidate in an election he seems certain to win, Doumbouya is supported by a movement bearing his initials: GMD, which stands for Generation for Modernity and Development.

Originally from Kankan in eastern Guinea, Doumbouya belongs to the Malinke ethnic group, the second largest in the nation.

His life's course remains intertwined with France, the country's former colonial power.

In 2002, he joined the French Foreign Legion, participating in a number of operations in places like Afghanistan and the Central African Republic.

According to his official biography, he holds a master's degree in defence and industrial dynamics at Paris's Pantheon-Assas University and trained at France's Ecole de Guerre military academy.

He is married to a former French gendarme and has four children.

'Neither-nor'

A video from 2017 shows Doumbouya, then an officer in the Guinean army, complaining at a conference about not receiving ammunition "because the politicians are afraid we'll stage a coup".

Doumbouya came to power just as a number of junta-led Sahel countries were turning away from colonial ruler France and West African regional bloc ECOWAS, while cosying up to Russia.

Yet, Doumbouya remained on good terms with France and all other international partners.

In a passionate speech before the UN General Assembly in 2023, Doumbouya offered a justification for the region's proliferation of military coups.

Denouncing a democratic model that had been "imposed" on Africa, he emphasised his non-alignment, declaring himself neither anti-American, nor anti-Russian, nor anti-French, but "simply pro-African".

His "neither-nor strategy has worked superbly", political analyst Kabinet Fofana, director of Conakry-based think tank Les Sondeurs, told AFP.

The international community is "trying to handle him with care" he added, in order to "keep him as an ally".

It has additionally welcomed improvements to the country's economic prospects under Doumbouya's rule, symbolised by the launch of operations at the enormous Simandou iron ore mine complex in the southeast.