Source : Sahel weather

Download the full Sahel weather report

The beginning of June was marked by a visit to Guinea on June 4 by the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, as part of his African tour. He held talks with the President of the Transition, Colonel Mamadi Doumbia, and his counterpart, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This "express" visit consolidates the continuing good relations between the two countries.

Colonel Sadiba Koulibaly, former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and former No. 2 in the ruling junta, died in detention on June 22 as a result of cardiac arrest due to psychological trauma, according to the results of the autopsy ordered by the military justice system. This death has raised many questions, notably among one of the deceased's lawyers, Me Lancinet Diabaté, who has denounced the grey areas surrounding his sudden death.

As a reminder, General Koulibaly was sentenced on June 14 to 5 years' imprisonment by the Conakry military court for "desertion of duty and illegal possession of weapons". Subsequently, the number 2 of the CNRD was demoted to the rank of colonel and disbarred from the Guinean army for "undermining state security, misconduct and desertion". A few days later, the arrest of a French journalist working for the France Médias Monde group highlighted the persistent challenges journalists face in exercising their profession in complete freedom. The journalist in question is Simon Désiré Aimé Martin of France 24. He was arrested with a senior member of the Association des Victimes du Camp Boiro (AVCB) on Sunday June 30. He held a permit issued by the Haute Autorité de la Communication (HAC) on June 28 for his report on the infamous Camp Boiro, nicknamed the Auschwitz of Guineans. The two were subsequently released after consultation of the appropriate authorization.

This arrest joins the chorus of restrictions on the press and media instituted by the ruling junta. For example, a French journalist, Thomas Dietrich, was arrested in January 2024, and last May, four radio stations and a private television channel were banned for "non-compliance with the content of the specifications".

Finally, in the face of these developments, the Guinean opposition is raising its voice and denouncing the failure to respect the transition timetable by the government, which had announced its desire to remain in power until 2025. Several opposition parties, including ANAD, have threatened to organize violent demonstrations to demand a return to constitutional order. Other parties, however, take the opposite view. This is the case of the Parti de l'Espoir pour le Développement National (PEDN), whose leader Lansana Kouyaté announced that: "We remain in a state of uncertainty, but we will never use force to say that if it's not done by December 31, 2024, we'll take to the streets".

Furthermore, the former Guinean Prime Minister, no less than one of the leading figures of the Guinean opposition, who is currently being prosecuted in connection with the Air Guinée case, believes that African politics has its own realities. Exile or prison are risks that every aspiring politician must consider at one time or another. His thoughts reflect a career marked by major political challenges. "The entire people feel betrayed by this decision to stay in power. Everyone knows that these are fanciful prosecutions. This privatization operation took place in 2002, and those who worked on it are covered by the statute of limitations. They have admitted that I played no role, but the junta is not interested, because the Court for the Repression of Economic and Financial Offences (CRIEF) has been used to prosecute me. Faced with this desire to neutralize political players, I've taken my time, but you can be sure that I'll be back.

Exile or prison is one of the risks when you decide to play politics in Africa," says Cellou Dalein Diallo.