2024-02-27 22:37:45
Amadou Oury Bah, an economist and former minister who participated in all the meetings proposed by the junta in power in Guinea since 2021 and boycotted by the opposition, was named prime minister on Tuesday. His task will be to resolve the crisis with the unions behind a general strike which has paralyzed the country for two days.
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The head of the junta in Guinea appointed a Prime Minister on Tuesday February 27 on the second day of an indefinite general strike, and eight days after unexpectedly dissolving the previous government. The new head of government will have the first mission of resolving the crisis with the unions at the origin of a large protest movement which has paralyzed the country for two days.
“Mr. Amadou Oury Bah, economist, is appointed Prime Minister, head of government,” Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, General Amara Camara, declared on national television.
Former collaborator of ex-Prime Minister and opponent Cellou Dalein Diallo, leader of the Union of Democrats for the Renaissance of Guinea (UDRG) party, Amadou Oury Bah was Minister of National Reconciliation after the major strikes of January-February 2007 which shook the authoritarian regime of President Lansana Conté, leaving 186 dead, according to NGOs. He has always advocated dialogue and participated in all the meetings proposed by the junta in power since 2021 and boycotted by the opposition.
In the capital Conakry, schools, banks and insurance companies remained closed on Tuesday, as did the vast majority of businesses. A minimum service was provided in health centers and administrations. The streets also remained almost empty.
The country’s thirteen central trade unions have been on strike since Monday in order to obtain a reduction in the prices of basic foodstuffs, an end to media censorship, respect for an agreement linked to the improvement of the living conditions of civil servants and the release of a press unionist.
Expected trial
Sekou Jamal Pendessa, secretary general of the Union of Press Professionals of Guinea (SPPG), who called for demonstrations against censorship, was sentenced on Friday to six months in prison, three of which were suspended. The group of lawyers defending him indicated in a press release that they had been informed on Monday that with rare speed, the appeal trial had been heard on Wednesday.
This mobilization represents a test for the trade union centers, supported by the main political parties and civil society organizations, and the junta which prohibits all demonstrations, muzzles the opposition and seeks to silence any criticism of it. The ruling military has removed television channels from the main distribution packages and jammed radio frequencies.
This protest movement, exceptional since Mamadi Doumbouya took power in 2021, was launched in a climate of growing social tension and in the absence of a government, since the junta announced its dissolution eight days ago without give the reasons.
The junta agreed, under international pressure, to announce that it would return the place to elected civilians by the end of 2024, time, it said, to carry out profound reforms.
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