Guinea’s president dismisses 173 soldiers, including coup ally, for desertion

Guinea’s President Mamadi Doumbouya, 41, has dismissed more than 170 soldiers for ‘desertion’, including Col Michel Lamah, a colonel who helped him seize power in a coup in 2021. Col Lamah was part of the Special Forces Group (GFS), the elite unit Doumbouya once commanded. After overthrowing President Alpha Condé, Doumbouya initially promised not to seek election and to hand over power to civilians. However, he later ran in December’s election and won with a landslide. The dismissals, announced via a decree on state television, are part of Doumbouya’s efforts to consolidate power and prevent leadership challenges. The affected soldiers came from various military branches. No details were provided about the circumstances of the alleged desertions. Col Lamah gained public attention during the September 2021 coup when he was photographed transporting deposed President Condé. Since the coup, Guinea has seen a crackdown on civil liberties, including the shutdown of media outlets, bans on protests, suspension of political parties, and arrests or exile of activists and opposition figures. Two major opposition parties, RPG Arc en Ciel and UFDG, were excluded from last year’s election, which Doumbouya won with 87% of the vote. Over the past five years, Doumbouya has focused on transforming Guinea, rich in mineral resources, into an industrial processing hub rather than a supplier of raw materials.