World Bibliographical Series. Vol. 191. CLIO Press.
Santa Barbara, Calif. 1996. 89 p. 1 map.
The Republic of Guinea is one of the least-known countries in Africa. Its official name is République de Guinée, and it is also known as Guinée française (French Guinea) or Guinea-Conakry in order to distinguish the country from other Guineas. From the end of the 19th century Guinea was a French colony, but after severing its links with France and becoming independent in 1958 it shut itself off from the world, and is only recently beginning to re-emerge. Compared with other African countries Guinea has been remarkably stable politically, having had only two leaders since independence. However, its economy has been less successful, and it has failed to reap the benefits of its abundant natural resources.
With an area of 246,000 sq. km (95,000 sq. miles) Guinea is approximately the same size as the United Kingdom. It is situated on the West African coast, sharing borders with Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Until 1994 Guinea was divided into four administrative divisions, which themselves coincided with the four main geographical areas.
These four administrative divisions were reorganized in 1994 into seven regions: the coastal region split into Kindia and Boké, the Fouta Djallon split into Labé and Mamou, and the rest of the country divided into Faranah, Kankan and N'Zérékoré regions.
Guinea's climate varies throughout the different areas (see item no. 13). The coastal region has a monsoon climate with high temperatures throughout the year and heavy rainfall during the period from May to October, but virtually no rain during the rest of the year. Conakry has an average annual rainfall of 430 cm, of which 130 cm falls during July, making the highest monthly rainfall figure for West Africa. The Fouta Djallon has a more pleasant tropical climate, with the altitude giving lower temperatures and rainfall which is more evenly distributed throughout the year (see item no. 12). In the southern highland area the rainfall is higher again, but is more evenly distributed, with only one or two drier months.
The early history of Guinea, before the present boundaries were set, was a complicated pattern of movements of peoples from different parts of Africa, who brought a range of languages, religions and traditions. The empire of Ghana had influence over the northern Guinea area by the 9th century, and brought an influx of Malinké and Soussou people, who pushed the Baga, Coniagui and other original inhabitants towards the forest and coastal areas.
By the 13th century the Malinké had founded the great Mali empire, which stretched from the Atlantic to northern Nigeria. Its leader, Sundiata Keita (c.1205-55), established his capital at Niani, which is currently a small village in Upper Guinea, on the Sankarani river southeast of Siguiri.
From the 13th century onwards Muslim Fula immigrants began arriving from the north, in search of grazing for their cattle. By the 15th century they had become sufficiently settled in the Fouta Djallon for their leader, Koli Tenguela, to declare independence from the Mali empire. More fervent Muslim Fulas moved into the area, and by the 18th century the Muslim Kingdom of Fouta Djallon (see item no. 111) was established under the leadership of Karamoko Alfa Bari. Its capital, Timbo, is now a village northeast of Mamou, where the remains of the 18th-century mosque can still be seen (see item nos. 25 and 27).
A rival centre was set up at Labé 1, which became a centre of Islamic teaching. Alfa Yaya — or Alfa Labé 2 — the great-grandson of Alfa Bari 3, became leader of a state as powerful as that based at Timbo (see item no. 86). Today, he is hailed as a hero for his resistance to the French colonial advances at the end of the 19th century, and his tomb can still be seen in Labé 4.
Portuguese, British, and later French merchants had been active on the coast from the 15th century, and Conakry, then known as Tumbo, was a port used in the slave trade (see item nos. 35 and 40). But, as the Scramble for Africa accelerated during the 19th century the French gained control over the Rivières du Sud (Rivers of the South), as the coastal area was known. France acquired rights over Conakry in 1880, and the borders of modern Guinea were fixed soon afterwards. In 1893 Guinea became an autonomous colony under French rule.
However, the French experienced great resistance from the interior of the country, especially from the Fouta Djallon. The Malinke chief, Samori Touré, proved to be a thorn in the flesh for the French, and with his guerrilla army he managed to hold off the French advance until his capture and deportation to Gabon in 1898 (see item no. 42).
For the next sixty years Guinea was a French colony, although the traditional chiefs continued to exercise administrative control 4. The French exploited Guinea's resources to the full. Wild rubber was the principal export before the First World War, and supported a community of Lebanese intermediaries in Conakry. The French later developed cash-crop plantations, growing coffee, bananas, groundnuts and palm oil, and began the exploitation of Guinea's rich bauxite reserves, as well as exporting gold, diamonds and iron ore.
Between 1902 and 1914 the French built a railway from Conakry to Kankan, for strategic reasons as much as for trade (see item no. 53). Kankan, situated on the Milo River in eastern Guinea, and linked by river with Mali, was the centre of a Muslim trading empire in the 19th century. The railway still runs sporadically today.
After the Second World War the first moves were made towards Guinean independence. At a conference in Mali (then Soudan) in 1946, a group of African politicians formed the Rassemblement démocratique africain (RDA) (African Democratic Rally) (see item no. 133). One of the delegates to this conference was Sékou Touré, a Malinké who claimed Samori Touré as an ancestor. He had already founded Guinea's first trade union, that of the Post and Telecommunications Workers, and in 1947 he and others founded the Parti démocratique de Guinée (PDG) (Democratic Party of Guinea) as an affiliate of the RDA.
Although failing to win membership of the French Assembly in 1954 (in an election widely thought to have been rigged by the French), Sékou Touré was elected mayor of Conakry in 1955, and was finally elected to the French Assembly in 1956. In the territorial elections of 1957 the PDG won fifty-seven of the sixty seats and Sékou Touré effectively became prime minister.
One of his first acts was the abolition of chieftaincy (see item no. 80), in order to bring the whole country under the authority of the PDG. This caused resentment, particularly among the Fula of the Fouta Djallon, where the chieftaincy system had still been very strong. This was the beginning of the tensions between the Fula and the Malinké, who held the reigns of power.
When, in 1958, the French under General de Gaulle offered Guinea the opportunity to join a community of French African states, Sékou Touré was strongly opposed to the proposal. Consequently, in the 28th September 1958 referendum, ninety-five per cent of Guineans voted against joining the French community (see item no. 51). On 2nd October, independence was declared. Following Guinea's overwhelming rejection of their government, the French abruptly withdrew all support and investment from the country. Sékou Touré had declared that the people of Guinea would 'prefer poverty in freedom to riches in slavery', and was more than happy to see them go 5.
Sékou Touré began his presidency surrounded by great popular support and a general mood of optimism for his revolutionary socialist policies 6. Following France's withdrawal Guinea was left in an economic vacuum, but Sékou Touré obtained aid from the Soviet Union and other Eastern-bloc countries, causing the United States to worry about the spread of communism in Africa (see item no. 135). However, Sékou Touré's policies were more anti-capitalist than pro-communist and relations with the Soviet Union soon deteriorated. The Soviet ambassador was expelled in 1961 following accusations of involvement in the « Teachers' plot », a supposed attempt to encourage left-wing student ideas.
Sékou Touré maintained his hold on power by the encouragement of nepotism in the Malinké clans of which he was the central figure. Huge sums of money and diamonds were hoarded abroad, while the Guinean people endured shortages and hardship. Anyone suspected of political opposition, especially the Fula, would « disappear » or be sent to one of the prison camps, of which Camp Boiro was the most notorious (see item nos. 62 and 66). Throughout his presidency Sékou Touré was convinced that his political opponents were plotting against him, and he became increasingly paranoid and ruthless in the eradication of his supposed enemies. Many educated Guineans fled to exile in neighbouring countries, which had the effect of further weakening the economic situation. By the mid-1960s Guinea had entered a period of isolationism and internal oppression. In an attempt to control both internal and external trade, there was a widespread crackdown on market traders in November 1964 and severe punishments for anyone caught smuggling or illegally dealing with foreign currencies. Guinea had withdrawn from the Communauté financière Africaine (CFA) Franc Zone in 1960 and the Guinea franc had become virtually worthless outside the country.
In 1965, opposition exiles in Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal, with support from Paris, formed the Front pour la libération de Guinée (FLING) (Guinea Liberation Front). Following the « Traders' plot » in 1966, a failed attempt to install a more liberal government backed by FLING, relations with France were completely severed.
On the night of 21st/22nd November 1970 an attempted invasion took place from the sea off Conakry. Some 350 Portuguese-led troops attacked many public buildings and freed a number of political prisoners. However, although Sékou Touré claimed that he had defeated an attempted coup, the real target of the troops was the headquarters of the Partido Africano da Independencia da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde), a group fighting for the independence of Guinea-Bissau from Portugal (see item nos. 70 and 84).
Nevertheless, there were severe reprisals, as Sékou Touré took the opportunity to weaken any opposition. At least ninety people were executed and many others were imprisoned and tortured, including several former ministers and the archbishop of Conakry. In 1973 the leader of the PAIGC, Amilcar Cabral, was assassinated in Conakry, leading to further suspicions of plots against Sékou Touré.
Accordingly, Sékou Touré's paranoia grew at this time and he sought to tighten his control of the country. One of the measures he took was to expand the powers of the Pouvoirs révolutionnaires locaux (PRLs) (Local Revolutionary Power), which had been set up in 1968 as local revolutionary authorities to maintain control at village level. In 1973 local government structures were reorganized, and the PRLs were given more authority to control all trading activities, which made them, in effect, the « economic police ». The Fula in the Fouta Djallon became the focus of Sékou Touré's paranoia, with the announcement in 1976 of the discovery of a « Fula plot », and the declaration that the Fula were the « enemies of socialism ». Diallo Telli, the minister of Justice and first secretary-general of the Organization of African Unity, was accused of leading the plot, which was allegedly backed by the US Central Intelligence Agency. He was arrested and died of starvation in Boiro prison camp in 1977 (see item nos. 66 and 89). It was estimated that in six months of 1974 over 250 people were executed in Camp Boiro alone. Many thousands of Guineans, particularly Fula, continued to flee the country.
By 1976 Guinea was economically paralysed. All private trade had been banned in 1975, the borders were closed and smugglers were shot. The « economic police » were themselves widely suspected of smuggling and corruption. Diplomatic relations with France were patched up in 1976 and an economic agreement was reached that included the banning of Guinean dissident propaganda in Paris 6.
In August 1977 there was a spontaneous uprising and rioting by market women across the country, who, due to the crippling trading restrictions, could no longer afford to buy their own produce. This began a reversal in economic policy, with Sékou Touré disbanding the « economic police » and allowing the resumption of some private trade. In response to a damning report in 1978 by Amnesty International on the human rights situation in Guinea (see item no. 59), and criticisms from the international community, a process of liberalization was begun. From January 1979 the country was renamed the People's Revolutionary Republic of Guinea.
During the early 1980s Sékou Touré cultivated the image of a Pan-Africanist and attempted to rebuild relations with neighbouring countries. But, on 26th March 1984 Sékou Touré died suddenly of a heart attack, leaving a power vacuum with no successor ready to take over.
On 3rd April 1984, in a peaceful coup, Colonels Lansana Conté and Diarra Traoré, as leaders of the Comité militaire de redressement national (CMRN) (Military Committee for National Recovery), took over as president and prime minister respectively. The PDG and the old party structures were dismantled, political prisoners were released, and a semi-civilian government was appointed. In May, the country's name was changed back to the Republic of Guinea. This second republic was greeted with enthusiasm as the CMRN promised a new era of freedom and denounced Sékou Touré's « bloody and pitiless dictatorship ».
However, Lansana Conté did not possess the eloquence or charisma of Sékou Touré and soon ran into opposition from his Prime Minister. In July 1985 Traoré and some fellow Malinké officers staged a coup while Conté was out of the country. This attempt was unsuccessful and Traoré and more than 200 others were arrested. Nearly two years later, in 1987, it was announced that Traoré and sixty others had been tried and were to be executed, although it was widely presumed that they had in fact been killed soon after their arrest.
Lansana Conté's swift response to the coup attempt strengthened his position, and the country was soon swarming with economic and technical advisors. Structural adjustment programmes were imposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in return for economic funding (see item nos. 145, 146 and 15 1). However, the austerity measures associated with this economic restructuring, as well as the streamlining of the civil service and the reorganization of the judicial system, led to a certain amount of dissatisfaction and unrest, particularly among the Malinké who felt that the government was becoming dominated by the Soussou (Lansana Conté's ethnic group). Numerous cabinet reshuffles took place in an attempt to maintain control.
In October 1989 President Conté announced the timetable for the return to civilian rule under a two-party system. A new draft constitution (loi fondamentale) was submitted to a national referendum on 23rd December 1990 and received the support of 98.7 per cent of those who voted. This led to the disbanding of the military CMRN and its replacement by the Comité transitoire de redressement national (CTRN) (Transitional Committee for National Recovery) to oversee the transition period leading to elections for president and legislature.
In October 1991, in response to a certain amount of popular unrest, Cont6 announced that, contrary to earlier proposals, there would be unlimited registration of political parties. This came into effect with the constitution of the third republic on 23rd December 1991. The CTRN and the government were extensively reorganized in accordance with the new constitution, and a pro-Conté party, the Parti de l'unité et du progrès (PUP) (Party of Unity and Progress) was formed. Among the first parties to be registered in April 1992 was the Rassemblement populaire guinéen (RPG) (Rally of the Guinean People), which had been an illegal opposition group for some years, led by Alpha Condé. By the end of 1992 more than forty political parties had been officially recognized. All the parties had strong regional and ethnic support, leading to a number of clashes between supporters of rival parties.
Legislative elections were originally planned for 1992 with the presidential election in early 1993. But repeated delays and postponements meant that the presidential election was held in December 1993, and the legislative elections were held in June 1995. General Conté beat seven other candidates in the presidential election, gaining 51.7 per cent of the votes cast. Alpha Condé gained 19.6 per cent of the votes to give him second place.
On 11th June 1995 elections were finally held for the new Assemblée nationale to replace the CTRN. The 114 seats comprised three seats for each of the thirty-eight constituencies. Twenty-one of the registered political parties presented a total of 846 candidates, while eleven parties combined into four opposition coalitions. The PUP won seventy-one seats, and the RPG won nineteen. Two other leading opposition parties, the Parti du renouveau et du progrès (PRP) (Party of Renewal and Progress) and the Union pour la Nouvelle République (UNR) (Union for the New Republic), won nine seats each. The remaining six seats went to five other parties. Nine of the elected members were women.
There were widespread allegations of election-rigging from the opposition, who threatened to boycott the parliament, but foreign observers were happy that the elections had been conducted properly and fairly. On 30th August 1995 the inaugural session of the Assemblée nationale was held and elected Boubacar Biro Diallo as speaker. Rather than boycotting the legislature as threatened, twelve opposition parties joined forces as the Coordination de l'opposition démocratique (Codem) (Coordination of the Democratic Opposition), under the leadership of Ba Mamadou.
President Conté's position began to look increasingly insecure on 2nd February 1996 when up to 2,000 soldiers took to the streets of Conakry, initially to demand a salary increase; but, they stormed the presidential palace, large parts of which were destroyed, and captured General Conté. The president was taken to the army barracks, where he was forced to sign a document submitting to the soldiers' demands. Conté's position in power was only maintained by this agreement and by the arrival of loyalist troops. An estimated 50 people were killed and 100 wounded during this uprising.
The latest census, taken in 1992, estimated the population at 5.6 millions, including approximately 560,000 refugees from the conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone (see item no. 94). However, this is thought to be an underestimate and the true population is probably nearer 7.5 million, with a rapidly increasing number of refugees. Another census is planned for 1996. Before the mid-1980s, up to two million Guineans had themselves sought refuge abroad from the harsh dictatorship of Sékou Touré. Many of these have now returned.
The population is made up of a number of ethnic groups. The coastal region, which covers about sixteen per cent of the country, is home to about twenty per cent of the population, mostly Soussou (or Susu) and also Baga. The Soussou make up the dominant group in the present government. Conakry is home to about one million people. The Fouta Djallon supports about forty per cent of the population, mostly Fula (also known as Peul, Fulani, Fulɓe), a large group of nomadic pastoralists who have spread across a wide area of West Africa. Despite being the largest ethnic group in the country, the Fula have always been under-represented in official circles. Haute Guinée has the lowest population density, with twenty-one per cent of the population, mostly Malinké (Mandingo, Mandinka) spread across forty per cent of the land. The remaining nineteen per cent of the population who live in Guinée forestière comprise a number of smaller ethnic groups including Kissi, Kono, Guerzé, and Toma.
Demographic indicators are among the worst in Africa. Life expectancy at birth is only forty-four for both men and women, and twenty-five per cent of children die before the age of five. Only thirteen per cent of the population have access to health care. However, the population is growing by approximately 2.8 per cent per year.
Education was disrupted during the Sékou Touré era when French was replaced by indigenous languages as the medium of instruction (see item no. 186). Since 1985 this policy has been overturned and steps are being taken to improve primary schooling (see item no. 187). However, literacy is estimated at only twenty-five per cent, with the vast majority of women being illiterate (see item no. 118). Of school-age children, only thirty-seven per cent attend primary school, and only ten per cent receive secondary education.
Islam is the principal religion, with about eighty-five per cent of the population holding Muslim beliefs. Only about five per cent are Christian, mainly in the Conakry area, while in the forested south-east of the country animist beliefs are still common.
Relations with France have blown hot and cold over the years (see the 'History' section above). They are currently friendly, with France being one of Guinea's major trading partners. Guinea's period of isolationism under Sékou Touré meant that relations with some of its neighbours were strained for some time. However, in 1980 Guinea joined both the Gambia River Development Organisation (GRDO) with Senegal and The Gambia, and the Mano River Union with Sierra Leone and Liberia (see item no. 131). In recent years Guinea has attempted to mediate in the civil wars taking place in both Liberia and Sierra Leone, and has become the destination for many hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing from these conflicts.
Despite an abundance of natural resources, which could enable Guinea to be one of the richest countries in Africa, it remains one of the poorest, with gross national product (GNP) per head at approximately $500. Sékou Touré's legacy of economic mismanagement has been difficult to overturn. Soon after taking power in 1984 Lansana Conté negotiated a structural adjustment agreement with the International Monetary Fund linked to a programme of economic and financial reform (PREF), designed to encourage economic recovery. This involved a currency devaluation, trade liberalization, privatization of state ventures, the creation of a commercial banking system, and removal of price controls (see item nos. 138, 151 and 152). Despite these radical measures, economic performance has been disappointing. The reduction in the civil service, from 90,000 in 1986 to 48,000 in 1995, has led to high urban unemployment and contributed to the political unrest (see item no. 149).
Up to 1990 mining was the most dynamic sector of the economy, responsible for ninety per cent of export revenues, and sixty-two per cent of domestic revenues. However, since 1990 it has suffered a decline, both in absolute and relative terms, due to technical problems, industrial disputes and growth elsewhere in the economy.
The principal mineral exploited by the mining sector is bauxite, of which Guinea possesses approximately one-third of the world's known reserves (see item nos. 157-60). The largest bauxite mine, the Boké-Sangarédi complex, some 250 km north-west of Conakry and linked by rail to Kamsar port, is operated by the Compagnie des bauxites de Guinée (CBG) (Guinea Bauxite Company). The Sangarédi reserves are likely to be exhausted by 1997, which has contributed to the drop in output in the mid-1990s. However, a new mine at nearby Bidikoum is being developed, which should help to boost production levels. The Fria site, now renamed Friguia, began processing its bauxite output into alumina in 1960, but since 1990 its production has fallen and it is undergoing a rehabilitation programme to bring it back to profitability. A third mine at Kindia, operated by the Société des bauxites de Kindia (SBK) (Kindia Bauxite Society), was developed with help from the USSR, to whom the majority of the output was exported. The breakup of the Soviet Union has had implications for the mine, whose future now looks uncertain.
Guinea also possesses one billion tons of sixty-five to sixty-seven per cent grade iron ore (about six per cent of total world reserves) at Mount Nimba in the south-east of the country on the border with Liberia. The main barriers to the exploitation of these reserves are the inaccessibility of the area and the civil war in Liberia, which has curtailed plans to export the iron ore through the Liberian port of Buchanan.
Gold is mined both industrially and by individuals, much of the latter production not appearing in the official figures. The Société aurifère de Guinée (SAG) (Guinea Gold [mining] Society) began the exploitation in 1988 of gold deposits at Siguiri in north-east Guinea. The mine was closed in 1992, partly due to the alteration of the mining laws which allowed artisanal producers access to the site. The mine was taken over by the Australian company, Golden Shamrock, who have identified that the reserves at the site are greater than originally thought, at 2.68 million oz. The Société minière de Dinguiraye (SMD) (Dinguiraye Mining Society) began production at Léro near Siguiri in early 1995, and expects to produce 1,200 kg of high quality gold per year. The company is also optimistic about the exploitation of other reserves, particularly at Fayalala.
Diamonds are also mined both industrially and unofficially, with widespread smuggling. An estimated 80,000-125,000 carats are exported per year by individual miners, of which no more than fifteen per cent are recorded in official figures. Artisanal mining was banned in 1985 in an attempt to encourage foreign companies to invest in Guinea. The Aredor mine near Banankoro south of Kankan started production in 1984, managed by Bridge Oil of Australia. Despite early optimism, and the discovery of some of the largest diamonds found in Guinea, the venture failed to live up to expectations and was disrupted by several violent incidents. Bridge Oil pulled out in 1994 and the Aredor mine is now closed. Artisanal mining was legalized again in 1992 and these individual miners are now responsible for the bulk of Guinea's diamond production.
The agricultural sector contributes about seventeen per cent of GDP, with two-thirds of the population dependent for their living on agricultural activities. Guinea has the potential to grow a wide variety of crops due to its favourable and varied soil and climatic conditions, although, as with the mining sector, it has failed to live up to its potential. During Sékou Touré's government agricultural policy was based on farm collectives, with inefficient state control of resources, marketing and prices (see item no. 166). Since 1984 Lansana Conté has introduced a number of reforms, including the raising of producer prices and the abolition of production taxes (see item nos. 161 and 162). However, the farmers have been slow to respond, although production of coffee, rice and fruit have increased.
Before independence Guinea was a net exporter of food grains, but food imports now represent twice the value of agricultural exports. Despite an increase in rice output in recent years, the country imports fifty kg of rice per head per year. The other major food crops which are grown in the country are cassava, maize, yams, millet and sorghum. Exports of pineapples, mangoes and other fruit and vegetables are increasing, and cotton production is growing rapidly. Other export crops are coffee, bananas, peanuts (see item no. 163) and palm oil.
Three-quarters of the national stock of 1.7 million N'Dama cattle are kept by the Fula in the Labé and Kankan regions. Other livestock are goats, sheep, chickens and pigs, almost all kept by individual families rather than commercially.
The fisheries sector is underdeveloped (see item no. 156), with eighty per cent of the annual 100,000 ton catch coming from artisanal fishing in inland waters. Almost all offshore fish are caught by European Union boats.
Guinea has rich forest resources, which are currently only exploited for fuelwood. However, an integrated forestry industry is planned for Guinée forestière.
There are no known resources of fossil fuels, but the country has great potential for hydroelectric power, particularly in the Fouta Djallon region with its deep river valleys. This has been developed for the use of the alumina industry, but supplies for domestic use are totally inadequate, as only six per cent of the population receives electricity from the national grid. The principal domestic source of energy is fuelwood (see item no. 185). However, Guinea is attempting to develop the energy sector, and a major hydroelectric scheme on the Konkouré river at Garafiri is expected to be operational by 1998, despite the withdrawal of World Bank support for the scheme.
The small manufacturing sector, which accounted for only 4.5 per cent of GDP in 1993, has the principal aim of import substitution. During the Sékou Touré régime all industries were state-controlled. President Conté has introduced widespread privatization and restructuring.
The transport infrastructure has been very neglected until recently, and has been cited by the World Bank as the « single most severe impediment to output recovery ». Before the mid-1980s the road network only served Conakry and the mining areas, but since 1985 the situation has improved, with new roads linking the capital to Kankan and other interior towns, as well as links to the rural areas, many built with foreign assistance. The railway network is also being renovated with French aid. The only public railway is from Conakry to Kankan, built at the beginning of the 20th century. The only other railways carry bauxite from Fria to Conakry and from Boké to the port of Kamsar.
Tourism is completely undeveloped in Guinea, although the government is hoping to expand hotel capacity in Conakry, and a new hotel complex was opened in 1995 at Linsan, between Kindia and Mamou.
Guinea has the potential to be a rich country, but due to political and economic mismanagement it has so far failed to make the most of its resources. The dark days of the Sékou Touré dictatorship are long gone, but there is still a long way to go to reach full economic development. As well as liberalizing the economy, Lansana Conté has introduced a multi-party democracy - unusual in Africa - but will he find that this becomes the cause of his downfall? The signs are not good. The opposition parties were unhappy with the legislature elections in mid-1995, and are becoming united in their opposition. There has already been a coup attempt at the beginning of 1996; can Conté hang on or will he find that he is overthrown by the democracy he has created? It must be hoped that the ethnic rivalries, which are the cause of so many conflicts in Africa, do not lead to a civil war on the scale of those in neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Notes
Points 1, 2, 3, and 4 are inaccurate. 1. Labe was one of the nine provinces (diiwe, sing. diiwal) of the Fuuta-Jaloo.
2. Erratum. Alfa Yaya — or Alfa Labé — was not the great-grandson of Alfa Bari . He was a Kaliduyanke (Diallo), descendent of Alfa Mamadou Cellou aka Karamoko Alfa mo Labe, who is not to be confused with Ibrahima Sambegu, aka Karamoko Alfa mo Timbo. — Tierno S. Bah.
3. The Lamɓe (vassals) of Labe were appointed by the Almami of Timbo. They ruled over a province of the Fuuta-Jaloo, albeit the largest and most powerful.
4. Erratum. Alfa Yaya's tomb is in Conakry, not in Labe. The tomb near the Mosque of Labe is that of Alfya Yaya's ancestor, Karamoko Alfa mo Labe. During the nation-building era of the early 1960s, he was portrayed as a hero who resisted the conquest. However, he was also a willing collaborator until he realized that he had been a tool in the hands of the French. — Tierno S. Bah
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