Meet Col Mamady Doumbouya, mastermind of Guinea coup
A screengrab taken from footage sent to AFP by a military source on September 5, 2021 shows Guinean Colonel Doumbouya delivering a speech following the capture of the President Alpha Condé and the dissolution of the government during a coup d'etat in Conakry on September 5, 2021.
Col Mamady Doumbouya was born in the Kankan region of Guinea.
He was a French legionnaire before he returned to Guinea to lead the Special Forces Group, an elite military unit created by President Alpha Condé.
When he took office, his international experience was cited including training he had completed in a number of different countries. In 2021, he was said to have been seeking more authority for the Special Forces Group.
Col. Doumbouya was the mastermind of the September 5, 2021 Guinean coup d'état attempt in which President Alpha Condé was detained by the soldiers.
He issued a broadcast on state television declaring that his faction had dissolved the government and further announced the suspension of the constitution and closed Guinea's borders for one week.
On Sunday, he said that the military had seized power and that president Alpha Condé had been detained.
“The personalisation of political life is over. We will no longer entrust politics to one man, we will entrust it to the people,” Col Doumbouya said.
He said he was acting in the best interests of the nation of over 12.7 million people.
“The duty of a soldier is to save the country,” he said.
He also said that the "Committee of National Rally and Development (CNRD), [was forced] to take its responsibility" after "dire political-situation of our country, the instrumentalisation of the judiciary, the non-respect of democratic principles, the extreme politicisation of public administration, as well as poverty and corruption."
Heavy gunfire had erupted early Sunday near the presidential palace in the capital of Conakry and went on for hours, sparking fears of a coup attempt. The Defense Ministry later claimed that the attack had been repelled but uncertainty grew when there was no sign of Conde on state television or radio.
Conde has faced mounting criticism ever since he sought a third term in office last year, saying the two-term limit didn't apply to him because of a constitutional referendum he had put forth.
