Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964.
During the first eight years of elections candidates in Guinea spoke of tribe or region, not of nation. They 'went digging into history to find accusations to hurl against each other', 1 and chose the examples which divided. For example the AGV, at their 1953 congress, took care to freshen people's memories of Fulani victories in war against other ethnic groups in Guinea. 2 Only for immediate electoral purposes were the leaders of the regional groups willing to form alliances, which were most unstable. During the 1945 campaign, for example, hoping to reduce the chances of Yacine Diallo who had a plurality on the first ballot, the representatives from the three non-Fulani areas made a pact in favour of Mamba Sano on the second ballot. 'This seemed to be the first instance of "unity of action" against "regionalism" in Guinea, 3 and it was not successful. Lamine Kaba insisted on running, received 1,711 votes, and as a consequence Yacine Diallo won with 5,774 votes against 5,065 for Mamba Sano. 4
During this period of regional politics, only the AGV could point to some formal structure. Three congresses took place in 1947, 1949, and 1953. A youth group existed for a short time, Jeunesse AGV. Briefly after 1951 deputy Yacine Diallo paid for a newspaper, the Progrès Africain. In 1953 the AGV could claim 35 sections, 14 with paid-up dues. Between April 1946 and January 1953, the AGV budget was published as 263,032.50 francs cfa. 5 Never good, 6 liaison between the headquarters and the sections progressively diminished until in July 1951 there only were rare exchanges of correspondence when exceptionally important events took place. 6 The existence of a formal structure reflected the wishes of the Fulani elite, often thwarted by rural chiefs who were not eager to invite visits from townsmen whom they regarded as disrespectful and interfering. The geography in the Fouta Djallon favoured control by the chiefs. The density of population was low, people lived scattered rather than in clusters, markets were few, and the chiefs controlled the misiide or mosque area, one of the rare places of assembly. Against the will of the chiefs, there was little the educated Fulani in the AGV could do: without money they could not afford to hire staff or put out a newspaper. As long as they limited recruitment, by definition, to the Fulanis, growth of support for their modern views remained limited by the slow rate of social change in the Fouta Djallon.
1. Magassouba Moriba in La Liberté, 2 November 1954.
2. Mimeographed records, AC;V 1953 congress, op. cit., $
3. La Liberté article by Cissé Fodé. 27 June 1955.
4. J.O.A.N.C. 1, Débats, 21 February 1946, p. 424.
5. Mimeographed records, AGV 1953 Congress, op cit., p. 13.
6. Ibid., p. 9.
