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News from 2006

 

singerArticles are in chronological order. Click on the title for the full article, as most are not quoted in full.

Newspaper Suspended

Media Foundation for West Africa (Accra), May 9, 2006

The 'L'Enqueteur', a Conakry based bi-weekly independent newspaper was on April 27, 2006 suspended by the media regulatory body, the National Communication Council (CNC), for two months for allegedly publishing false information about the regime of President Lansana Conte.

The newspaper will remain out of circulation till June 27.

According to Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)-Guinea source, the newspaper published an article entitled 'Socio-economic and political crises: Guinea sick of its government' on the front page of its April 27, edition. According to the CNC the article sought to suggest that the country's socio-political crises are attributable to the divisions within the government.

The source said the newspaper carried accompanying pictures of Fode Bangoura, Minister for Presidential Affairs, Aboubacar Sompare, Speaker of the National Assembly and Alpha Conde, leader of the Guinean People's Rally (RPG), the main opposition party with a detailed discussion of the governmental division, which it said had become characteristic of President Conte's administration thus causing misery to the country.

Magazine Suspended

Media Foundation for West Africa (Accra), April 6, 2006

The Guinea authorities on March 30, 2006 banned the sale of "Jeune Afrique", a Paris-based weekly independent magazine for allegedly publishing articles on President Lansana Conté that could undermine the sovereignty of the country.

According to Media Foundation For West Africa (MFWA) Guinean source, the authorities also suspended the circulation of the March 26 to April 01, 2006 edition of "Jeune Afrique" which had on its front page, a cancelled photograph of President Conte with the caption: "Guinea: End of reign, A seriously ill President, an abandoned regime; opposition organizes ", suggesting the end of President Conté's administration.

The source disclosed that, Cheick Yerim Seck, the legal correspondent for "Jeune Afrique" in Conakry in a five-page (44-49) series of articles said the illness of President Conté and his refusal to leave power could lead to political and social crises. The article also stated that President Conte is physically and morally unable to continue ruling. And this according to the Guinean authorities amounted to crating disaffection that could undermine state sovereignty.

Meanwhile, the Department of Liberties of the Ministry of Interior that grants licenses for distribution of foreign publications has declined to comment on the issue.

Le Président Conté limoge son Premier ministre pour faute lourde

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

5 Avril 2006 (Conakry) Deux jours après avoir célébré le 22e anniversaire du coup d'Etat qui lui a permis d'accéder au pouvoir, le président Lansana Conté a levé le voile sur les dissensions politiques internes en Guinée et limogé mercredi, le Premier ministre réformiste, Cellou Dalein Diallo, quelques heures à peine après avoir annulé un décret qui aurait renforcé les compétences de M. Diallo.

Très apprécié des bailleurs de fonds internationaux et des institutions financières, M. Diallo a été nommé à la tête du gouvernement il y a seulement 17 mois.

Mardi soir, la radio nationale annonçait à deux reprises que le Président Lansana Conté avait procédé à un vaste remaniement de son gouvernement à l'issue duquel le Premier ministre avait hérité des portefeuilles de l'Economie et des finances, du Plan et de la coopération internationale, et du Contrôle économique et financier. Sept alliés de M. Diallo entraient au gouvernement, alors que 12 autres ministres étaient limogés.

Mais mercredi, à 10 heures du matin, la radio nationale a annoncé l'annulation du décret, en affirmant que « le gouvernement d'avant la date du 4 avril est maintenu ».

Moins de trois heures plus tard, Aboubacar Sidiki Coulibaly, le conseiller du Premier ministre, déclarait à IRIN que M. Diallo avait été limogé.

« Le Président de la République décrète que le Premier ministre Diallo est démis de ses fonctions pour faute lourde », a annoncé la radio nationale.

Selon une source bien informée, cette décision serait la conséquence de dissensions entre deux factions au sein du gouvernement. « Conté est malade. La personne qui dirige véritablement ce pays est Fodé Bangoura ».

El-Hadj Fodé Bangoura, le secrétaire général de la présidence et très proche collaborateur de M. Conté depuis plusieurs années, dirige une fraction au sein même du gouvernement et a joué un rôle décisif dans l'annulation du décret.

Pour Bram Posthumus, un analyste spécialiste de l'Afrique de l'ouest, ces incidents mettent en lumière la lutte de pouvoir qui a lieu dans l'entourage proche du président malade, à un moment où des candidats se battent pour sa succession.

« Pour le moment, j'interprète cela comme des manoeuvres politiques au sein du gouvernement. Diallo est clairement sorti du cercle de ses compétences, mais il ne semble pas qu'il y aura d'autres changements majeurs à moins d'une vague de mécontentement public ».

Selon plusieurs indiscrétions, l'hypertension et le diabète dont souffre le chef de l'Etat ont considérablement affecté sa santé. Il apparaît rarement en public. Le Président septuagénaire a été évacué d'urgence à Genève, en Suisse, le 18 mars où il a subi des examens médicaux avant de rentrer à Conakry le 24 mars.

M. Diallo, un économiste qui a travaillé à la Banque centrale, a été nommé Premier ministre en décembre 2004. François Fall, son prédécesseur, avait démissionné en mars 2004, alors qu'il était en visite officielle à Paris, deux mois seulement après être entré en fonction. Il avait vivement critiqué l'ingérence politique et la corruption dans l'entourage du président.

Membre du gouvernement depuis près de 10 ans, M. Diallo était considéré comme l'un des vétérans de l'attelage gouvernementale du Président Conté.

Si le remaniement avait eu lieu, il aurait signifié le départ d'Alpha Ibrahima, ministre de l'emploi, d'El-Hadj Fodé Soumah, ministre de la jeunesse, de l'emploi et de la culture, et de Kiridi Bangoura, le ministre de l'intérieur, qui aurait été replacé par Almamy Kabélé Camara, un allié de M. Diallo.

Journalists Prevented From Press Covera

Media Foundation for West Africa (Accra), March 29, 2006

On the orders of Mr Fodé Bangoura, Minister and Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic of Guinea, journalists were on March 24, 2006 denied access to the Gbessia Airport in Conakry, to cover the return of General Lansana Conté from Geneva where he had sought medical attention.

The journalists included those of the state and private media and correspondents of Radio France International (RFI) and the English Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

According to Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)-Guinea source, Protocol and State Secretariat staff at the Presidency of the Republic, have for sometime, been using all manner of means to prevent journalists from attending any event where General Lansana Conté is.

On the said date, the Red Berets of the Guinean Army drove away all journalists. "We don't need the press here. Go there!" they ordered. Only journalists of the press office of the Presidency were authorized to cross the barrier of the Red Berets for the press coverage.

FISHERIES: GREENPEACE SPOTS 4 ITALIAN "PIRATE" TRAWLERS
(AGI) - Rome, Italy, Mar 27 - Greenpeace reports having spotted four Italian trawlers fishing in the protected waters off Guinea Conakry, one of the world's poorest countries. The sighting was made onboard Greenpeace's ship "Esperanza" which at the time of the sighting also hosted Guinea Conacry government inspectors. The sighting has led the government inspectors reviewing the trawlers' permits, which as such have temporarily been seized. In fact, according to Greenpeace, according to a preliminary review the four vessels do not hold Guinea Conakry fishing permits. As part of its Atlantic patrol operations Greenpeace's Esperanza has spotted 67 foreign trawlers in total. The vessels identified to date are sailed Italian, Korean, Chinese, Liberian and Belizean flags: 19 lacked permits, 22 already had a record of pirate fishing, 9 covered their shipping ID and as such were not identified. A further 8 were caught red-handed actually fishing inside Guinea Conakry territorial waters. According to Greenpeace's seafaring campaigns manager Alessandro Gianni' "pirate fishing is a global menace to the sea and the people he rely on its resources for sustenance, but governments are doing precious little to curb it", as for the Italian trawlers "should their position turn out to be unauthorised, we will submit that the EU and the Italian government take adequate steps". Guinea Conakry is the only country in world to have witnessed a fall in fish uptake. Local fishermen have access to waning resources and are having to fish further out at sea, in dangerous conditions. Furthermore, by law territorial waters are to be used for local domestic fishing. "For anyone to quote aid to Africa and developing countries and to allow pirate fishermen top steal food is pure hypocrisy" Gianni' adds: "in sub-Saharan Africa alone pirate fishing accounts for 1b euro each year". (AGI) .

Guinea deploys troops as general strike takes hold

CONAKRY, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Guinea put troops on its streets on Monday to prevent violence during a general strike which shut schools, banks and shops, paralysing the volatile West African nation.

Soldiers were out in force on main junctions in the capital Conakry after unions called a five-day strike to protest against low public sector wages and spiralling inflation. The government ordered schools closed for security reasons.

"We've called a five-day strike to demand a substantial improvement to the standard of living of workers," union leader Louis Mbemba Soumah told Reuters.

Past demonstrations in the former French colony have often turned violent.

Three protesters were killed last November in eastern Guinea when security forces clashed with youths demanding more teachers, while students in the capital smashed windows and cars during a wage strike by state workers the same month.

Economic woes have heightened tensions in Guinea, already on edge over the failing health of diabetic President Lansana Conte, which has raised fears of a dangerous power vacuum.

Analysts and diplomats have voiced growing concern over unrest in the armed forces and the lack of an obvious successor to Conte, who has ruled with an iron fist since seizing power in a 1984 military coup.

Guinea raised public service salaries by an average 30 percent earlier this month and the government last week warned that any striking civil servants would be sacked.

Unions said the wage increase was not enough and said they were determined to see their industrial action through.

"The average civil servant earns around 150,000 Guinean francs ($34) a month. It's a disgrace. It is impossible to live on such a salary when a simple bag of rice costs more than 120,000 francs," Soumah said.

Annual inflation in Guinea is running at almost 30 percent but prices for some foods, including the staple rice, have increased much more quickly.

"This strike is being fully followed across the whole of the country. Even in Conakry, where we have had problems in the past, nobody went to work," he said.

Capital slows to standstill on first day of general strike

CONAKRY, 27 February (IRIN) - Angry trade unionists brought the Guinean capital to a standstill on Monday, the first of a five-day general strike called to wrest longstanding demands for a four-fold rise in wages and pensions.

Two of the West African nation's most powerful unions, the National Confederation of Guinean Workers (CNTG), and the Guinean Workers Trade Union (USTG), called the strike action after months of talks broke down. The two trade unions between them boast around 80,000 workers, according to analysts.

There was little traffic on the streets of Conakry as most taxis and minibuses remained at home, while shops and businesses stayed closed and government workers largely deserted offices.

The government itself on Sunday ordered the closure until further notice of all educational institutions across the country, including schools and universities. "The government realised by last night that it was battling a lost cause," a trade union member told IRIN on Monday, a day after negotiations broke down.

Daily life has become tougher and tougher in past years for the average Guinean. Rice, the staple food for the West African nation's eight million people, almost doubled between January 2004 and November 2005, with the free-market price of a 50 kg bag of rice increasing from 50,000 francs to about 85,000 francs. Today a bag costs a whopping 100,000 Guinean francs or US $22, which equates to more than half the average monthly salary of a civil servant.

As the Guinea franc tumbles against the dollar on a near day by day basis, petrol prices have also risen sharply in recent months fueling inflation and adding to Guinean's woes.

Inflation, which was running at just below 28 percent in 2003, up from single digits two years earlier, was at over 30 percent in the second term of 2005, according to the Economy and Finance Ministry.

Employment Minister Ibrahima Keira has threatened action against government workers who fail to turn up for work without a legitimate reason. But leading trade unionist Louis Mbemba Souma, Secretary-General of the Teachers' Union, told IRIN on Monday that "We are determined to carry on this strike."

"For too long we've been taken for a ride," he said. "This time if even it takes us months, we will pursue and get what we demand from this government."

As the stoppage bit, stalls remained empty at the main Madina Market while there was little activity at the government-run Donka hospital in town. "We are observing the strike by giving limited services," one medical officer said. "But if within the next few days the impasse is not broken, we will have little choice but to close that down as well."

"I know that as professionals we shouldn't, but ... enough is enough."

Guinea government hikes fuel costs by about 10 pct

Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:42 AM GMT

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea raised fuel prices by about 10 percent on Saturday, the first increase in nine months in the impoverished West African nation where rapid inflation has previously sparked anger and rioting.

State radio said petrol would cost 4,200 Guinean Francs (just under $1) from 3,800 francs per litre. Diesel and paraffin oil - a basic need for cooking and lighting in a nation struck by chronic power cuts -- rose to 4,000 francs from 3,600 francs.

An average 30 percent pay rise for public service workers announced by the government late on Thursday had softened the blow, itself coming three months after a violent strike action demanding that salaries keep abreast of spiralling inflation.

Despite having a third of the world's known reserves of bauxite, the ore used to make aluminium, almost half of Guinea's 8 million people live on less than a dollar a day.

The government raised the cost of fuel by 50 percent last May, blaming a spike in international crude prices.

Inflation is running at nearly 30 percent, and soaring prices for basics like rice and fuel have heightened tensions in a country already on edge over the failing health of President Lansana Conte, which has raised fears of a dangerous power vacuum.

Scores of youths rioted in June over the rising prices and some looted rice stores in Conakry a month later.

Traffic was calm in the capital Conakry on Saturday, with many preferring to limit car trips.

"This is terrible for the population, some ca nnot even get one meal a day," said market seller Mabinty Sylla.

"There has to be another solution to relieve the population. We cannot go on like this," said passer-by Malick Kebe.

Guinea raises state salaries by average 60 percent

CONAKRY, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Guinea has raised public service salaries by an average 60 percent, three months after a violent strike by workers demanding pay rises to keep pace with spiralling inflation, state media reported.

Despite having a third of the world's known reserves of bauxite, the ore used to make aluminium, almost half of Guinea's 8 million people live on less than a dollar a day.

The government closed down schools in mid-November when students smashed windows and cars and clashed with police during a wage strike by state workers.

They had demanded their $30-$40 monthly salaries -- which today are barely enough to buy a sack of rice -- be quadrupled and pensions enhanced to keep pace with annual inflation of nearly 30 percent.

State radio announced on Thursday the government had raised pay effective from the end of January in a move that would push up the overall annual public service wage bill to 432 billion Guinean francs ($86.4 million) from 270 billion francs.

President Lansana Conte has ruled the West African country since seizing power in a 1984 military coup, but analysts and diplomats have voiced growing concern over unrest in the armed forces and the lack of an obvious successor to the chain-smoking, diabetic Conte.

Political concerns have been compounded by economic woes.

The International Monetary Fund said in a report last month that Guinea had made progress under an IMF staff monitored programme, but inflation was around 28 percent at the end of 2005, economic growth was a low 3 percent and public debts were unsustainable at almost 100 percent of gross domestic product.

Guinea Receives Additional Financing From the World Bank for the First Phase of the Village Communities Support Program

Washington, D.C., January 24, 2006

The World Bank Board of Directors today approved an International Development Association (IDA) grant of US$7 million to provide additional funding for the first phase of the Village Communities Support program in Guinea.

The aim of the first phase of the Village Communities Support Program is to increase access of rural population to basic infrastructure and services through the setting up of an operationally effective decentralized system catering to local development needs. The grant funding provided by the Bank will help to scale-up decentralized and participatory rural development notably through the geographical expansion of the program.

"The Village Communities Support Program is now widely recognized by the Government, participating communities and development partners as an efficient and high-performing initiative that has significantly contributed to the country's poverty reduction goals notably by letting communities themselves identify, design and implement their development priorities," said Mamadou Dia, World Bank Country Director for Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire.

The activities to be financed under this additional grant are fully consistent with the Country Assistance Strategy, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and the Africa Action Plan. The Village Communities Support program will contribute to foster sustainable and equitable growth by improving access to markets for village communities and improving access to and quality of basic social services. It will also provide support to socio-economic infrastructure and other projects with a direct link to the health and education sectors. It will also improve governance and build institutional and human capacity through training, support to decentralization, and empowerment of local populations.

"The Government of Guinea adopted a new poverty reduction strategy in 2002 through a highly participatory process, based on experience gained through the implementation of the Village Communities Support Program," said Abdoulaye Toure, the World Bank Task Team Leader of the project.

The project has established an effective and efficient mechanism for transferring public funds to local communities for the financing of prioritized rural community infrastructure.

The Village Investment Fund component of the project provides matching grants to organized communities for the financing of priority community infrastructure micro-projects, identified using participatory mechanisms.

The Support for Local Development component will help streamline legal and regulatory framework for decentralization, establish effective fiscal and financial decentralization and strengthen the capacity of rural development communities (Communauté Rurale de Développement - CRD) to manage local development programs. It will also strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of the Interior and Decentralization and sensitize and train newly elected CRD representatives following the December 2005 local elections.

For more information on the World Bank's work in sub-Saharan Africa visit: http://www.worldbank.org/afr

For more information about World Bank's activities in Guinea visit:

Guinea Situation Report: 1-14 Jan 2006

1. Political and security overview

Security overview: The security situation remained relatively calm, except for reported cases of armed banditry.

Opposition party pulls out of parliament: The parliamentary opposition, the Union for Progress and Renewal (UPR), has announced that it would withdraw its 20 members from the 114-seat national assembly in protest at the alleged rigging of the 18 December 2005 municipal elections, in which the ruling party won by an overwhelming majority. The UPR won just two communes and 19 rural community councils (5.26%) reducing its influence in local government in its traditional Foutah area. The party also announced that it was suspending its participation in the national electoral commission. Opposition parties and many observers agreed that the December elections were marred by irregularities. However, President Lansana Conte's ruling Party for Unity and Progress (PUP) has dismissed the UPR’s protest as an overreaction. The international community had invested substantial financial and human resources in these local elections, the first to be organised in a decade, and attaches a lot of importance to a credible electoral commission that produces credible election results accepted by all sides. Legislative elections are scheduled to take place next year.

UNCT meeting: A UNCT meeting recommended that more efforts should be geared towards development assistance, provision of basic social services, and alleviating poverty in the country, after being reminded that only very few donors were still linking financial aid to free and fair elections. A briefing on municipal elections highlighted as positive the use of national observers, financial contributions of donors, and the use of single-ballot voting. However, insufficient poling material such as indelible ink, misuse of voting cards, weak participation of voters and attempts by the commission to change results in favour of the ruling party would need to be addressed in future polls.

2. Humanitarian situation

Health

Update on yellow fever:WHO and the Ministry of Health in collaboration with MSF, UNICEF and the European Union, launched a yellow fever campaign in the Boke Region (north-eastern Guinea near the Guinea Bissau border) where over 150 cases have been recorded since December. Vaccinations have been completed in the towns of Gaoual, Koundara (north of Boké) and Boffa (Guinée Maritime), but were still being carried out in the town of Boké. A total of 900,000 people have been targeted for vaccination. According to authorities, yellow fever has been rampant in Guinea since 2000 due to inappropriate vaccination campaigns. WHO and the Ministry of Health plan on vaccinating neighbouring prefectures. Japan has agreed to fund a clean water project costing USD 1 Million, which entails drilling wells for residents in the towns of Gaoual, Koundara, Koubia and Mali.

Cholera in Guinea Forestière: Cholera continues to spread in Guinea Forestière where over 200 cases have been recorded in Lola and Yalenzou (near Nzérékoré) since October 2005. This surge in cases comes at a time when the caseload has been regressing across the country. UNICEF and government authorities conducted a chlorination of wells from 27-29 December 2005. A second round is scheduled for later in the month. Recognizing the direct link between water quality and cholera, OCHA has mapped out water points to provide information on available water points and urgent gaps to be filled.

The emergence of cholera in Guinée Forestière, after coming to an end in Moyenne Guinée, raises great concern among humanitarian partners. WHO is therefore taking measures to fight the cholera epidemic as well as yellow fever outbreak in the country. OCHA is assisting both WHO and UNICEF in their advocacy efforts.

Vitamin A distribution campaign: Helen Keller International (HKI) has reported that it provided vitamin A supplementation to more than 2 million children from 10-13 November 2005 in the country’s second national vitamin A distribution campaign, which targeted children from six months to five years old using an innovative door-to-door strategy. This campaign, which was launched by the First Lady, coincided with the fourth National Immunization Days for the eradication of polio and received great support at both the national and local levels.

A recent HKI study in sub-Saharan Africa showed that 42.4% of children under five are at risk of vitamin A deficiency, with as many as 65% at risk in some regions of Guinea. Vitamin A supplementation has been proven to reduce under-five child mortality by 25% to 35%, saving the lives of over 645,000 children per year. HKI and other partners also carried out a pilot program to distribute mebendazole for deworming to almost 200,000 in four districts, as part of the vitamin A supplementation campaign.

Refugees

Refugee camps in Guinea currently hosts some 63,000 refugees, including some 3,500 from Cote d’Ivoire and the remainder from Liberia. WFP, UNHCR, CRS and ACF jointly conducted sensitization campaigns in refugee camps on the planned reduction in food rations in 2006, from 1,835 to 1,600 kcal for Liberians. Ivorians will continue to receive 2,100 kcal. Yet, WFP and CRS have signed a letter of understanding (LoU) for general food distribution to refugees during 2006.

The restoration of peace and return to democratic elections in Liberia offer the prospect of durable solutions for Liberian refugees in Guinea, with an estimated 40,000 refugees expected to avail themselves of the assistance for voluntary repatriation planned for 2006. With ongoing instability in Cote d’Ivoire, assistance continues to be provided to Ivorian refugees in Guinea and emergency preparedness and contingency planning are being maintained for any new refugee influx. UNHCR will complete a local integration project for some 1,500 Sierra Leonean refugees in the first half of 2006.

3. Resource Mobilization

Consolidated Appeals Process: OCHA is finalising the translation from English into French of the Guinea CAP 2006 ahead of the CAP launch in February 2006. The CAP 2005 has received 63% of its revised requirements of USD $37 million.

4. Staff movement / Pending issues

Medical evacuation: HAO Jean-Charles Dougrou continues to be hospitalised in Paris for a lingering medical condition.

Guinea opposition quits parliament in vote protest

By Saliou Samb CONAKRY, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Guinea's parliamentary opposition decided on Wednesday to pull its members out of the national assembly in protest at the alleged rigging of local elections last month.

The Union for Progress and Renewal (UPR) said its 20 MPs would quit the bauxite-producing West African country's 114-seat national assembly, leaving only President Lansana Conte's ruling Party of Unity and Progress (PUP) and smaller allied parties.

The UPR was the only opposition party in parliament after 2002 legislative elections were boycotted by the main opposition party, including the larger Guinean People's Rally (RPG).

Opposition parties have accused officials of rigging the Dec. 18 elections, seen as a key test of democracy in the former French colony, which gave the PUP a sweeping victory even in some hitherto opposition strongholds.

Dozens of people were arrested during opposition protests following the poll.

The UPR won just two communes and 19 rural community councils, reducing its influence in local government in its traditional northeastern heartland in the Foutah area.

"We have had an extraordinary meeting to draw lessons from the recent communal and community elections and we have decided unanimously to withdraw from work in the National Assembly as a sign of protest," UPR second in command Yaya Keita told Reuters.

The party, which had already demanded the election results be annulled, also suspended its participation in the national electoral commission, Keita said.

Conte's PUP, which swept 31 out of the country's 38 communes and 241 of the 303 rural community councils, dismissed the UPR's protest as an overreaction. It said the party's poor performance was due to another opposition party fielding candidates, splitting the opposition vote.

"This decision is unjustified and disproportionate to the arguments put forward," PUP Secretary-General Sekou Konate told Reuters by telephone.

The December elections were seen as a test of the democratic apparatus in Guinea as concerns mount that widespread corruption, divisions in the military and economic problems could destabilise any transfer of power from the ageing, diabetic, chain-smoking Conte.

Despite having around one third of the world's known reserves of bauxite, the ore used to make aluminium, most of Guinea's people live in poverty and recent months have seen growing unrest over rising food prices.

 
 
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