In his New Year’s address, the former president directed his words to the nation and his supporters, adopting a particularly sharp tone towards his successor, Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, who ousted him just over two years ago.
Alpha Condé penned two New Year’s letters. In the first, intended for the Guinean nation, he launches a scathing attack on President Mamadi Doumbouya, labeling him as an “ex-French legionnaire and his gang,” referring to the CNRD junta. Condé deems them “incapable of meeting the most basic needs” of the Guinean population and accuses them of abolishing “the most fundamental freedoms!”
The second letter, addressed to RPG militants, reads like a call to mobilization: “Many of you are demanding my return. I commit to standing by your side to defend our Republic,” writes the former president.
Saloum Cissé, the RPG’s secretary-general, reacts: “The party’s primary strategy is internal organization, and this organization is being observed. From the grassroots level to the central committee, there is a general motivation for the professor’s return. That is our major concern.”
Political analyst Kabinet Fofana suggests that Alpha Condé is capitalizing on the current context of restricted freedoms in Guinea but is still perceived as the main instigator of the situation: “He is trying to navigate the context of media, social media, and internet restrictions. Yes, it can be perceived as a form of a comeback, but for many, he remains someone who was at the root of all this with the third term, which was the justification wielded by the military to seize power.”
The former president plans to dispatch emissaries to other political parties soon to develop a common strategy.