Junta makeover in Guinea

 A couple of weeks ago in Guinea, Mamady Doumbouya, a general who led a 2021 military takeover in the West African country, got sworn in as civilian president. He thereby transitioned from being a military usurper in power to becoming a popularly  elected ruler of his people. Doumbouya, 41, took office for a presidential term that was only recently elongated to seven years, from a previous timeline of five years. Under new alterations to Guinea’s constitution, the term is renewable once.

The presidential inauguration took place in front of tens of thousands of supporters and several heads of state, Doumbouya having been declared winner of a poll that held 28th December, 2025, in his country. Presidents from Rwanda, The Gambia, Senegal and some other African countries as well as pricipals of the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission were in attendance. Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima represented President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the event, alongside the vice presidents of China, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea. Even officials from France and the United States were on hand. Assimi Goïta, a general who has led neighbouring Mali since a military takeover in 2020, also graced the occasion. 

The election on which Doumbouya rode to shed his military garb was the first in Guinea since he toppled President Alpha Condé four years earlier. He had justified that military takeover on alleged corruption and economic mismanagement under Condé, who in 2010 became the country’s first freely elected president since its 1958 independence from France. During the four years of junta rule, the military dissolved state institutions and suspended Guinea’s constitution as it negotiated with regional bodies, including ECOWAS, on restoration of democratic civilian government. Meanwhile, the junta was widely reported to have cracked down on civil liberties, banned protests and harassed political opponents under Doumbouya’s leadership. Whereas he initially pledged not to run for president when he seized power, Doumbouya stood election against eight other candidates in the December 2025 election. Reports said formidable opponents stayed away in exile, and the opposition at some point called for poll boycott . Following the election, Guinea’s supreme court affirmed Doumbouya as having received 86.7 percent of the vote.

Besides reneging on his initial promise not to run for election, Doumbouya oversaw the rewriting of Guinea’s constitution to permit members of the military leadership to run for office, and extend the presidential term from five years to seven. Critics argued that his clampdown on political opponents and dissent left him with no major challenger in the December poll, such that analysts predicted an easy victory for him. The election runner-up who won 6.59 percent of the vote filed a petition accusing Guinea’s electoral body of manipulating the results in Doumbouya’s favour, but he withdrew the petition even before the supreme court gave a verdict.

Dressed in a traditional gown at his inauguration as president in a ceremony at the General Lansana Conte Stadium on the outskirts of Conakry, the Guinean capital, Doumbouya swore an oath to uphold the constitution that was only in September altered to allow him to stand for election. “I swear before God and before the people of Guinea, on my honour, to respect and faithfully enforce the Constitution, the laws, regulations and judicial decisions,” he said. Accompanied by his wife, Lauriane Doumbouya, he told the capacity-filled arena he would uphold the tenets of democracy, transparent governance and the interest of all Guineans at all times. He also stressed that under his watch, the country’s peace and national cohesion would not be compromised. His ascension as an elected president is the perfect playbook for makeover from junta rule to civil rule.

“With his switch from khaki to civvies and the world applauding, Doumbouya holds out a guidelight to military usurpers digging their heels into power elsewhere”

From the moment he seized power in September 2021, Doumbouya showed a knack for influencing the political space. Just 36 years old at the time, the broad-shouldered colonel and a relatively unknown member of Guinea’s elite army unit accused the government of ousted Condé of having disregarded democratic principles and that citizens’ rights were trampled on. But his own time as junta head did not exactly promote democratic rights. While seemingly enjoying some popular support because many Guineans were frustrated with the failures of civilian leadership, politicians questioned Doumbouya’s democratic credentials because political parties were banned by his junta, activists allegedly disappeared mysteriously and media outlets were shut down. Even the election he won by landslide was argued to be a sham as he ran in a severely depleted field. A former prime minister now on exile was reported describing the process as a charade and the outcome “fabricated.” 

Ahead of his poll victory, the soldier-man, now a general, often ditched his military camouflage in favour of traditional Guinean attire of loose-fitting robes with elaborate embroidery or casual sportswear. He maximised populist opportunities, with pictures showing him at the opening of schools, or transport and mining infrastructure, or cycling through the streets of Conakry, the capital. The message, obviously, was that he is a man of action working for the people. “He presented an image of someone who can be close to civilians, who fits with being a civilian leader and can be a representative of the people,” one analyst was cited saying. “In some ways, he was distancing himself from what brought him to power namely a coup, and the fact that his entire career has been in the military,” the analyst added.

Doumbouya’s background aided his political transformation. In the 15 years before he seized power, he gained extensive international exposure, including being educated in France and serving in the French foreign legion. He was at different points of his career in Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Central African Republic, Israel, Cyprus and the United Kingdom. And because the 2021 coup was widely welcomed by Guineans, he has remained a popular figure.

Since his junta days, the new president cultivated a reputation for seeking to put Guineans in control of their own economic destiny. In a country grappling with high levels of poverty despite abundant natural resources, including the world’s largest reserves of bauxite and iron ore deposits, this aspiration struck a chord. Doumbouya’s leadership attracted a 75 percent Chinese-owned mining project to revitalise Guinea’s ailing economy, with production commencing last year at a major iron ore site after decades of inaction. The success or otherwise of this project may define his incoming presidency, as he appears determined to keep some of the processing and value-added parts of the industry in Guinean hands to ensure greater benefits. Across the broader mining sector, his government cancelled dozens of contracts over the past year where it was felt that affected firms were not investing in Guinea. “This move towards resource nationalism makes him look like a local hero, like he’s really fighting for the rights of his citizens even if that means business disruptions,” one analyst was reported saying.

The emphasis on national interest also informed a pragmatic approach to international relations. Unlike coup leaders elsewhere in the sub-region, Doumbouya has not outright rejected former colonial power, France, in favour of Russia. But neither, despite his background in France and having a French wife, has he been accused of being a puppet of Paris. He very much wants to be seen as running things primarily in the interests of his country’s 15 million population, half of which is currently mired in poverty and experiencing record levels of food insecurity according to World Food Program (WFP) reports.

With his switch from khaki to civvies and the world applauding, Doumbouya holds out a guidelight to military usurpers digging their heels into power elsewhere. Already in West Africa, juntas in the Sahel states of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have spurned international pressure for swift return to civilian rule and decreed prolonged transitions. In Mali, Goïta’s government approved a bill for a five-year renewable term for the head of state, following a national dialogue boycotted by political parties. In Burkina Faso, the junta led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré extended its rule till at least 2029, reneging on an earlier promise to hold elections in 2024. In Niger, coup leader Abdourahamane Tchiani was in recent months sworn in for a five-year transition, aiming to rule until 2030 at least.

These junta leaders initially postured as interim messiahs interested in stabilising their countries and swiftly handing over to elected dispensations in which they would take no part. If they now want to take a cue from Doumbouya, they should, at least, submit to electoral processes to whitewash their lust for power.