States and Power in Africa
Guinea-Conakry: The End of a Dictatorship?
Conakry, capital of the francophone West African country of Guinea, is bracing for a new round of violence following last month's general strike which left at least 59 dead and 1400 injured. The strikes were organized by Guinea's powerful labor unions to pressure President Lansana Conte, an aging dictator, to appoint a prime minister without ties to the current regime and devolve some of his considerable powers. On January 28, after an 18-day standstill, Conte and the unions reached a deal.
However, union leaders are unhappy with President Lansana Conte's choice of prime minister, and are planning to go ahead with a second round of strikes, due to start tomorrow. In the last few days, 8 civilians have already been killed, including two in an incident were presidential security forces opened fire on youths throwing stones (Fr) at the president's motorcade.
By all accounts, the unions have considerable support among the Guinean people, who also want Conte to share power or step down.
President Lansana Conte should step out of power its been 23 / 24b years since in power ,the old regime should be replaced by a new generation ( the todays people) . let us bring in our idears of a idelogical state of which people would live in without starvation ,terror and unjustice . guinea has many potentials of developing but its has been crushed by many years of curruption and its tradition elites of thinking. a new individual purifed from contes regimes should step in . a ruler not a dictator
Posted by: kadijatou bah | January 11, 2008 at 03:06 PM