| Guinea
Holds Controversial Referendum
Woody Colahan
On Sunday, November 11, Guineans voted in a
controversial referendum on constitutional change.
Offical sources reported that turnout was 87% and that
more than 98% percent of voters approved the proposed
changes to the country’s constitution. However the BBC
reported opposition sources as saying turnout was less
than 20%, while United Nations Integrated Regional
Information Networks (IRIN) said that local media
sources reported a low turnout and that diplomatic
sources reported a high turnout only in pro-government
areas. IRIN reported no major incidents of violence in the
voting but noted some irregularities including
including "polling officials who did not know how to
count ballots."
The referendum was heavily criticized by the
political opposition, who mounted an aggressive
campaign against approval. The most controversial
elements were an article that extends President
Conté’s term to seven years instead of four and at the
same time removes any restrictions on the number of
times he could stand for re-election, and an article
which changes local decentralization authorities (the
C.R.D.’s) from elected officials to presidential
appointees.
Opposition leaders argued that the referendum was
illegal in that the present constitution, enacted in
1993, allows for constitutional revision only by joint
action between the President and the National
Assembly. They complained that President Conté had
bypassed the National Assembly completely in holding
the Nov. 11 referendum.
The political opposition has been campaigning against
the referendum under the slogan, "No to a President
for Life." Opposition leaders have been touring the
interior of the country in a convoy of vehicles,
attempting to hold rallies in major regional capitals.
Guineenews in Toronto reported on Nov. 3 that
government officials in Kankan and Labé had blocked
the approaches to their towns with tanks in order to
halt the opposition caravan and prevent them from
holding rallies, but that in Labé demonstrators had
simply gotten out of their cars and walked around the
tanks to rally in "tens of thousands" in the center of
the city.
On Nov. 4 the BBC aired an eyewitness report of the
entrance of the caravan into Conakry, where it was
attacked by the police at Matoto. The BBC reporter,
Alhassan Sylla, said the convoy was coming from
Kindia, where it had been prevented by the authorities
from holding a rally. In Conakry it was met by a large crowd of supporters,
which were then attacked with tear gas and dispersed.The correspondent
did not report any deaths, but said that he saw injured demonstrators
lying on
the ground.After the police attack opposition
coalition leader Bah Mamadou was clearly angered, and
said that "from now on, force will meet force."
Demonstrations against the referendum took place
outside Guinea as well. On Nov. 2, Guineans from the
New York and Philadelphia areas demonstrated in
Philadelphia before the African-American Business
Summit, chanting slogans such as "Conté must go!"
Afterwards they held a meeting where calls were made
for better cooperation within the Guinean expatriate
community. On Nov. 3 more than one thousand Guineans
demonstrated against the referendum in front of the
Guinean embassy in Paris, according to Guineenews,
with plans to demonstrate again four days later in
front of the French National Assembly.
Criticism of the proposed referendum also came from
foreign sources. The Thursday before the vote,
President Conté was visited by ambassadors from the
European Union and the G7 coutries, who came to
"repeat their concern" over the possible consequences
of the referendum on Guinea’s future. Diplomatic
sources speculated that the article in the referendum
making local officials into presidential appointees
was likely to sour relations with the World Bank and
IMF, because they and other international institutions
place much emphasis on the process of
decentralisation.
In Washington a State Department
spokesman said that "any constitutional change in
Guinea carried out in an illegal manner would not
contribute to the development of democracy and
therefore would not be welcomed by the United States,"
according to Guineenews. While noting that the
official text being voted on in the referendum had not
yet been published, he denied reports that Secretary
of State Powell had threatened to cut off aid to
Guinea if the referendum went ahead, and said that the
question of whether President Conté should receive a
third term was a matter "for the Guinean people to
decide in a free fair and transparent process."
The Standard Times of Freetown, Sierra Leone on Nov.
9 quoted Sierra Loenian refugees returning to Freetown
as reporting growing tension over the referendum,
saying that "Conakry residents have been having
sleepless nights due to night firing by armed bandits
and in the mornings one can see helicopter gun ships
flying at low range with heavy noise over the city."
In the event, voting seems to have passed off
peacefully. Press reports cited a heavy military
presence in Conakry, and no word of violent incidents
in the interior. The government claimed an
overwhelming victory and the opposition rejected the
results out of hand. Minister of Territorial
Administration Solano called for dialogue with the
opposition, while Abou Camara, the Garde des Sceaux or
Attorney General, threatened to arrest and prosecute
some opposition leaders for "incitement to revolt."
Alpha Condé, leader of the RPG, said "we will not
participate in any electoral consultation," according
to Guineenews. Sidya Touré, leader of the UFR, said
appeals for dialogue had come "too late." Bah Mamadou,
leader of the UNR, and Siradou Diallo likewise
refused to cooperate with the government after the
election. Late reports seemed to point to a breakup of
the opposition coalition, with Bah Mamadou and Alpha
Condé trying unsuccessfully to hold on tho the
allegiance of Siradou Diallo and Sidya Touré.
Political commentators expressed concern over the
political impasse, coming as it does only six weeks
before the national legislative elections on December
27.
An editorial in the Accra Mail characterized the
referendum as "pointless" and "retrogressive," calling
Conté an "old-style African dictator" who had "set
the
clock of democracy and development back many years."
Advocacy Report
Brian Farenell
In mid-August, the membership of Friends of Guinea
voted on the Advocacy/Projects goal for the rest of
2001. Of the three choices proposed by members, the
one chosen was microcredit. Microcredit projects offer
small loans to people in developing countries to start
businesses, collectives or other enterprises. Given
that the cost of living in developing countries is
usually much lower than in the West, a loan which is
small by our standards can go a much longer way in a
developing country than it would in the US.
Microcredit projects are generally marked by their
extremely high repayment rate (typically much higher
than repayment rates at commercial banks), despite the
fact that most borrowers have little or no collateral.
There has been some discussion as to the specific
implementation of the goals so this may change for
2002. Look for more details before the end of the
year.
Megan Wilson has volunteered to be our representative
to ADNA (Advocacy Network for Africa). To quote its
website, ADNA is a progressive non-partisan network of
200 US-based organizations [whose] initiatives address
issues of peace and security; human, civil, political
and women’ s rights; environmentally and economically
sustainable development for poverty eradication;
social justice; popular participation and good
governance and humanitarian and crisis relief. Megan
will attend ADNA’s monthly meeting in Washington on
our behalf. Thanks Megan!
In addition to microcredit issues, my other goal for
the rest of the year is to initiate contacts with
Friends of Sierra Leone, Friends of Liberia and the
other Friends of West Africa RPCV groups for our
sub-region of West Africa. Ideally, I’d like to set up
a mini-coalition for these "Friends of..." groups
which will allow us to coordinate advocacy efforts on
issues of common importance.
The following officer positions are available:
microcredit officer (or committee, depending on who
many people are interested), World Wise Schools
officer and liaison officer (to communicate with
PC-Conakry, PC-Washington, NPCA and other Friends of
West Africa groups; this could be shared if it is too
much for one person).
If you are interested in any these positions or have
any other advocacy related questions, please don’t
hesitate to contact me. Thanks!
Brian Farenell
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A
Refugee's Tale
(For those of you who may be interested, there is a
magazine out there called ManoVision which focuses
primarily on our sub-region of West Africa.
Specifically on Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia,
which are the members of the Mano River Union (thus the name). They
also have articles on other countries in West Africa, but mainly on
those three. In fact, issue #21 has an article written by Brian Farenell
(FOG Advocacy Director) on the rebel attacks in the Parrots' Beak and
one written by Marge Chasteen (mother of FOG Webmistress Stephanie Chasteen)
on her visit to Guinea.
Although published in London on a bi-monthly basis,
it is on sale in some places in the US. For more
information on the magazine, subscription info, etc.
see their website: http://manovisiononline.com
The following is a harrowing but tragically ordinary
tale from issue #19, reprinted by permission of
ManoVision.)
My name is Chermor Nuhu Bah. I am 26 years old. I was
born in Makeni, the headquarter town of Bombali
District in northern Sierra Leone.
When the rebel war commenced in Sierra Leone on 23
March 1991, Makeni, my hometown, was unaffected.
However, when the regime of the Armed Forces
Revolutionary Council (AFRC) government overthrew the
democratically elected government of Ahmed Tejan
Kabbah on 25 May 1997, things began to change in
Makeni. During the rule of the AFRC, the entire
country suffered massive human rights violations,
which also victimized my family members.
My father, the chief Imam of our local mosque, was
also a cattle herder and he owned a large cattle farm
in a village 70 kilometers away from Makeni. Before
the AFRC came to power, he was actively preaching
against the activities of the rebel movement in the
country. He condemned the brutal killing of innocent
lives and also urged the youth in the town to keep
faith and not allow anyone to convince them to take
part in the brutal and ungodly acts of the RUF rebels
in the country. This was the main cause that led to
all of our suffering in Sierra Leone under the rule of
the AFRC/RUF.
During the early morning hours of 29 May 1997, a
group of rebels and soldiers arrived at our house and
opened fire. They asked for my father, who was
fortunately not around as he was at his cattle farm in
Manjoro village. They told us that they heard that my
father was one of the people who were spreading bad
information about them in the town and they were here
to arrest him. Since he was not home, they brought the
entire family out under the hot, burning sun and we
were seriously beaten. They completely looted the
house and it burned it to the ground. Then they took
me along with them to their base.
Upon arrival, I was stripped naked and tortured. They
then locked me in a small, dark room. I was alone in
there and was not allowed to see my people for three
days. During those three days I was left without food.
They were trying to force me to give them information
regarding the whereabouts of my father. I persistently
refused to tell them anything they wanted to know. I
was then released and went home to join my family, who
had already moved to our other house in the town.
After the rebels consolidated their hold on the town,
a law was passed from their high command that they
should stop harassing civilians. So we were no longer
harassed, but our movements were monitored and
restricted.
Nine months later, the Nigerian-led intervention
force ECOMOG, kicked the rebels out of power and
restored the democratically elected government. The
rebels were forced to retreat toward the provinces and
it was at this time that they entered our town again.
They intended to turn our town into their base from
which they could launch counter-attacks on the loyal
government troops. They stayed in the town for one
week after which they were forced to flee.
During their week’s stay, the same group of rebels
who burnt down our house, arrived at our new house.
But, this time when they arrived, they saw my uncle on
the verandah and shot him dead on the spot. They then
entered the house and gang raped my two sisters. This
time, my father was home. They found him in his room
and dragged him outside. They beat him until he was
nearly dead. They then took both my father and I to
their base. On the way, a jet belonging to the
intervention force flew over the area and dropped
bombs. Everybody scattered and many of the rebels were
killed. Luckily for us, we managed to escape during
this time. We went to our house and gathered the
remaining family members and fled our farm. We stayed
in hiding in the area until they were driven from our
region.
Eleven months later, the rebels regrouped and
launched the most ruthless and brutal campaign of
terror against the innocent civilians, which resulted
in the amputation of limbs of many poor people in the
country. They attacked my hometown again on 15
December 1998, but this time I managed to escape to
the Republic of Guinea. Before I came to Guinea, all
of my family was at the cattle farm. The rebels
learned of the family’s location and chased everyone
away.
They seized everything on the farm, shot all of the
cows and transferred the meat to their base. My father
was abducted and to this day we do not know his
whereabouts.
This has deeply affected us. My stepmother was
pregnant and due to the strain, she miscarried and
died from excessive bleeding. There was no time to
find a doctor for her. May her soul rest in peace. The
rest of the family was forced to flee to the forest
and they lived there for two months. This was not easy
for them. They later moved to nearby villages and
lived there until there until the signing of the Lomé
peace accord.
As a result of the atrocities committed by the rebels
on the civilian population, regional organizations,
ECOMOG and the international community, immediately
called for peace talks between the rebels and the
government. These were held in Lomé, the capital city
of Togo. After lengthy discussions, an agreement was
reached and the Lomé peace accord was signed.
Some of the rebels started disarming and handing
over their weapons to the UN Peacekeeping forces. The
disarmament process was slowly progressing, while the
UN forces continued to work all over the country. All
of a sudden, the rebels changed their minds and
started abducting UN Peacekeeping forces. This
resulted in the collapse of the peace process. A fresh
battle erupted between loyal government troops and
rebels. The intention of the battle was to counter
rebel attacks in the capital, Freetown.
The highway, which connects the capital to the
provinces, was completely cut off. This even affected
the rebels, who began looting and raiding villages in
search of food.
During this time, I sought refuge in Guinea. However,
having heard about the situation in my country, I had
to risk my life to save my family. I went to
Foracharia, Guinea, and then to the border town of
Pamalap, and finally to the rebel-held village of
Gbalamuya. On my journey, I was searched over and over
again. At one point, I was accused of being a
government spy, but I told them that I had no links
with the SLPP government in Freetown and I was allowed
to go my own way. I managed to see my people after a
lot of difficulties. During that time, a government
helicopter was conducting bombing raids around Makeni
in an attempt to force the rebels out of the town.
Many civilians were massacred during this bombardment.
My family and I narrowly escaped and we had to walk
for ten days before reaching the Guinean border on 2
July 2000.
Even in Guinea, we face many serious problems.
Recently, there were continuous rebel attacks in
Guinea and many of the Sierra Leonean refugees were
blamed for bringing the war into this neighboring
country. The Guinean government announced that all
Sierra Leoneans had to be rounded up and detained
until they could be sent back to their own country.
Because of this, we are harassed and many Guinean
youths and security officers stole our property. Now,
we are facing grave problems here in Guinea.
For now, we cannot go back to our country because the
rebels have earmarked my family and the war is not yet
over. We lost all that we had during this struggle and
now our future is at stake because we do not have
anyone to help us. One thing that I know for sure is
that if the attacks continue, Sierra Leoneans will
find it very difficult to stay in Guinea due to the
heightened harassment. We are not safe here. This is
our main problem. We are in a dilemma because we do
not know where to go. Life is difficult for us here.
Before I wrap up my story, I would like to write the
names of my family members:
Adama Jalloh, 42, mother
Chermor Nuhu Bah, 26, son
Alhodji Mamadu Bah, 23, son
Salieu Bah, 20, son
Aminata Bah, 18, daughter
Isatta Bay, 15, daughter
Alieu Bah, 12, son
Osman Bah, 8, son
Interview by Supriya Pillai
Mano Vision magazine. The bi-monthly publication for
Africans and friends of Africa everywhere. We invite
you to participate in this forum by sending an e-mail
with your thoughts, views or article to:
<[email protected]>. Correspondence on
general issues or business can be sent to
<[email protected]>.
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Web News
Stephanie Chasteen
Yes, it is true! We now have a fancy new web site
address at http://friendsofguinea.org. Please change
all your links, tell your friends, and shout it from
the mountaintops. Can you tell I'm excited about
this?
After a relatively easy process, we've moved to a
permanent server – in anticipation of the possibility
that I may sometime finish graduate school – and we
bought the friendsofguinea.org domain name. We're now
housed on klatha.com's server, the same server which
hosts the Guinea List listserv, thanks to the tireless
efforts of my good friend Dave Loebell (thanks Dave!).
You can write Dave at [email protected].
You can still access the old pages at
http://maxwell.ucsc.edu/~stephanie, but I haven't been
updating them, and they'll be replaced with "we've
moved" messages after this quarter is (finally) over.
The page also has a bit of a new look, thanks to Herb
Caudill's ('97-'00) cartoons. Thanks, Herb!
Many thanks to David Principe (RPCV TEFL '93-'95),
who helped us to list the new friendsofguinea.org site
with all the major search engines, such as Yahoo.
Thanks, David!
The Guinea List listserv is also still going strong,
and we have a good showing from the new parents of
PCV's. We have a total of 271 subscribers, 40 of
which are inactive.
We also hope to revamp the RPCV directory
(http://friendsofguinea.org/registry.shtml), enter
username "rice", no password) so that it's searchable
by Years of Service, Name, Village in Guinea, etc...
Sales on our links to Amazon, REI, CD-NOW and Powells have been good.
People have been buying everything from DVD players to books on African
fabrics. There's a nice section on Peace Corps and Africa books at
http://www.friendsofguinea.org/books.shtml. If you're
planning on doing your holiday shopping at any of
those locations, just take two more clicks of the
mouse to give us a commission:
http://friendsofguinea.org/support.shtml
Are you bored? Listless? Looking for meaning in
your life? I have some old copies of AWA (the
humorous volunteer newsletter) that I was thinking of
scanning in and putting on the site, to start a humor
section of the site. If you'd like to help me with
that project, just contact me at [email protected].
I'd also be interested in working with someone to
provide more services to new parents of PCV's, and to
PCV's in-country. I have ideas... (don't I always?)... just contact
me.
This holiday season I hope you all join me in
gratitude for what we have, what we have learned, and
the friends we have in Guinea and elsewhere.
Peace, Steph
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Inside PC Guinea
Woody Colahan
The October 2001 issue of the Peace Corps Guinea News
shows us that Americans around the world are
struggling to deal with the September 11 attacks just
as we are at home. Country Director George Greer notes
that "all of us in the American Mission in Guinea have
overwhelmed by the outpouring of condolences and
support from Guineans in all walks of life." Judging
from my experience in my village as a volunteer, this
is not hard to believe. I remember well how I was
deluged with condolences the day the news was reported
of the death of President Clinton’s mother, an event
of which I might otherwise not even have been aware.
Apparently American officials and volunteers have had
the same experience in spades. "The day after the
attacks President Conté and his entire cabinet came to
the ambassador’s residence to express their
condolences to senior American officials," reports
George. "None have been more supportive than PC’s own
Guinean staff. I believe we are all very lucky to be
serving in Guinea."
At the same time, the attacks have resulted
inevitably in a heightened awareness of security
issues. Security has been stepped up at the PC office
and maison de passage. George expects Guinea to remain
safe for volunteers, but asks any incidents of
anti-American activity to be reported immediately,
just in case.
The swearing-in of a new group of PCVs was scheduled
for Sep. 13 at the Ambassador’s residence. Events
caused it to be rescheduled to Sep. 12 at George’s own
house. We imagine that, coming as it did a day after
the attacks, it must have been an emotional moment.
George reports that flooding in Kankan and Mandiana
has displaced 30,000 local inhabitants and washed out
the bridge in Mandiana. As a result two Mandiana
volunteers were withdrawn from their sites and one new
PCV is waiting in Kankan for the waters to subside.
One majorish piece of news from PC Guinea is that the
Peace Corps Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has
decided to eliminate funding for all SPA projects in
Guinea. Apparently it was generally agreed after a
program review that infrastructure projects were not
successful, although "technical assistance" or
capacity-building projects had a much higher success
rate. PC/Guinea has asked headquarters to be allowed
to continue supporting technical assistance projects,
but it is not yet clear whether funding will be
restored.
IST’s are coming up in January for 1st year
volunteers. They will be held in Mamou. I guess the
beach at Kassa is just too distracting.
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Le Griot Nous Dit...
Ms. Virginia Grover says: AnneMarie Cisse and her two
adorable kids visited me in France last summer! Much
time was spent reminiscing about "the good ole days"
in Kindia.
Ms. Ann Grodnik reports: Kerry Philp recently sang
her rendition of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" in a karaoke
bar in San Francisco; Caroline Fichtenberg is going to
start her Ph.D. in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins (ask
her about start date and details); Shirley Woodward is
going to get her MPH at Johns Hopkins starting soon.
Shannon Fagerlund still parties like a rock-star.
Rebecca Konrad (96-98) finished up her actuarial work
last summer and began the University of Minnesota's MBA program in the
fall. Brian McKenna (Bounouma 96-98) has moved to DC and is in
school at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Science (SAIS).
We think that's what it stands for. Mike Nemec (Boffa 96-98)
has moved to DC and is getting his masters in Public Policy at
Georgetown. Martin Kifer (Beyla 96-97 and Boké 97-98)
has moved to Minneapolis and is pursuing a Ph.D. in
political science at the U. of MN. Karen Pilliod
(96-98) has moved to Chapel Hill and is getting her
MPH at UNC. Kim Maggio ( Maci, Pita 96–98) got married Nov.
2 in Conakry. She says, "I met this great guy, Gabriel (a.k.a.
Gaby), in 1999 at Timi's (a night club for
those of you not familiar with Conakry) while I was
still a PCV in Guinea. Actually he was introduced to
me one night, by my good friend Chavanne and it took
us about 6 or 8 months to actually go out together.
He says he didn't want to date a PCV because we all
end up leaving the country (I think he has realized no
one really knows when I'll leave.) Too make it even
more amusing I was the one to ask him out, to a movie
at the Marine house, of all places.
"To those of you for whom I have been a poor
correspondent I apologize and blame the technology of
the Guinea. Needless to say you are still in my
thoughts."
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Water
Rachel Schneller (Mali 96–98)
(The following essay was the 1998 winner of the Morits
Thomsen Peace Corps Experince Award, named for the
author of the classic Peace Corps memoir, Living Poor,
and given each year byPeace Corps Writers to the essay
best describing the experience of serving as a Peace
Corps Volunteer. It is reprinted by permission of
Peace Corps Writers. Learn more about Peace Corps
Writers at http://peacecorpswriters.org.)
When a woman carries water on her head, you see her
neck bend outward behind her like a crossbow. Ten
liters of water weighs twenty-two pounds, a fifth of a
woman’s body weight, and I’ve seen women carry at
least twenty liters in aluminum pots large enough to
hold a television set.
To get the water from the cement floor surrounding
the outdoor hand pump to the top of your head, you
need help from the other women. You and another woman
grab the pot's edges and lift it straight up between
you. When you get it to head height, you duck
underneath the pot and place it on the wad of rolled
up cloth you always wear there when fetching water.
This is the cushion between your skull and the metal
pot full of water. Then your friend lets go. Spend a
few seconds finding your balance. Then with one hand
steadying the load, turn around and start your way
home. It might be a twenty-minute walk through mud
huts and donkey manure. All of this is done without
words.
It is an action repeated so many times during the day
that even though I have never carried water on my
head, I know exactly how it is done.
Do not worry that no one will be at the pump to help
you. The pump is the only source of clean drinking
water for the village of three thousand people. Your
family, your husband and children rely on the water on
your head. Maybe ten people will drink the water you
carry. Pump water, everyone knows, is clean. Drinking
well water will make you sick. People here die every
month from diarrhea and dehydration.
The pump is also where you hear gossip of the women
from the other side of the village. Your trip to the
pump may be your only excuse for going outside of your
family's Muslim home alone.
When a woman finds her balance under forty pounds of
water, I see her eyes roll to their corners in
concentration. Her head makes the small movements of
the hands of someone driving a car: constant
correction. The biggest challenge is to turn all the
way around from the pump in order to go home again. It
is a small portion of the ocean, and it swirls and
lurches on her head with long movements.
It looks painful and complicated and horrible for the
posture and unhealthy for the vertebrae, but I wish I
could do it. I have lived in this West African village
for two years, but cannot even balance something
solid, like a mango, on my head, let alone an object
filled with liquid. When I lug my ten-liter plastic
jug of water to my house by hand, it is only a hundred
meters, but the container is heavy and unwieldy.
Changing the jug from one hand to the other helps, but
it is a change necessary every twenty meters. Handles
do not balance. On your head, the water is symmetrical
like the star on top of a Christmas tree. Because my
life has never depended on it, I have never learned to
balance.
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