We mourn the passing of General Lansana Conte', second president of La Guinea since independence. May Allah forgive him and may the Almighty guide Guineans with his infinite wisdom.
General Lansana's passing before legislative elections in La Guinea is the flux that La Guinea cannot afford. I am confident when Prime minister Soare' yielded to demands for legislative elections last week, this was weighing heavily on his mind and that of the military. Now it is inevitable that the two elections must be held at the same time and it will not be pretty. However, I think La Guinea can weather the storm. She will need help from neighbours Mali, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, SierraLeone, Liberia, and Guinea Bissau, and her development partners during these tenuous times.
I encourage the military to stand firm and dispel rumours of gratuitous coups. They must not allow rag-tag outfits to hijack La Guinea's future once more. Opposition parties and trades unions must also be wary of these marauding bands of hopeless infantrymen. A military coup is not in the interest of opposition parties, trades unions, students, and or La Guinea's development partners.
It goes without saying that the mining contracts signed by General Conte' for both RIO Tinto and Benny Steimetz are null and void. I am sure the two mining concerns understand that and that they will have to be re-negotiated by the newly elected government of La Guinea. I am very disappointed at the World Bank for the unwise decision to underwrite the Rio Tinto deal and equally disappointed at General Conte's brother-in-law for his part in encumbering La Guinea with BSG.
It is now a matter of necessity to complete expeditious elections, both legislative and Presidential, funds or no funds. It will be difficult because the PUP has convinced itself that the logistics and funds were not available for the legislative elections and they encumbered themselves with a cockamayme biometric system. Now the military must assist in ensuring free and fair elections in the shortest span of time. It will be wise to seek additional military support from Mali, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, and perhaps Nigeria, to maintain the peace and order while La Guinea's military gets to work on the elections. All hands on deck.
Haruna.
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