International Diplomatic Consultant Al Wahab Farouk says the presence of Alhassan Ouattara in Guinea over talks on the recent coup could have angered the people of Guinea the more.
The Diplomatic Consultant described the President of Cote D’Ivoire as a “bad product” for the ECOWAS delegation to Guinea.
President Alassane Ouattara was part of a delegation of west African leaders sent by regional bloc ECOWAS following the coup in Guinea. He was received in Conakry by Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, leader of the coup that ousted former Guinean President Alpha Conde on September 5.
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Explaining his stance,Al Wahab made it known to Happy FM’s Don Prah on the ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ show that the Guineans seem to have a beef with Ouattara based on dealings he had with them in the past.
Al Wahab explained that at a time when he [Ouattara] was a prime minister under Félix Houphouët-Boigny, he taxed the Guineans who used to work as ‘Kayayeis’ in Cote D’Ivoire when no other country was taxing these workers.
Also, since Ouattara has been a very good friend of Alpha Conde since his time as prime minister till now, Al Wahab argues that many Guineans suspect that Ouattara might have influenced Conde to breach the Guinean constitution.
“Because Alhassan Ouattara was able to pull the ring over the shoulder of Ivorians by changing constitution for his third term, Guineans are reading meaning that he encouraged Alpha Conde to breach the constitution. Already Alpha Conde is his friend way back in Félix Houphouët-Boigny’s time when he was prime minister”, he stated.
On 5th September, 2021, soldiers in Guinea led by Col. Mamady Doumbouya overthrew 83-year-old President Alpha Conde. Announcing the dissolution of the government, the leader of the coup on national TV said the army had no choice but to seize power because of rampant corruption, abuse and disregard of human rights as well as economic mismanagement all under the rulership of Alpha Conde.
The recent action led to an emergency summit of ECOWAS in Accra to deliberate on the way forward against the military government in Guinea and also to discuss the slow progress towards constitutional rule in Mali following a coup in the country last year.
On Thursday, 16th September, 2021, the West African leaders imposed sanctions on Guinea’s Coup leaders and called for elections in 6 months in a demand for a quick return to civilian rule after troops ousted President Alpha Conde.
