Soldiers, reportedly led by a former French Legionnaire, Lieutenant Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, announced that they had seized power and arrested 83-year old Guinean President Conde, and suspended the Constitution of the West African nation.
Addressing the nation on live TV, Lieutenant Colonel Mamady Doumbouya said “Dear compatriots, the economic and socio-political situation of the country, the dysfunction of republican institutions, the instrumentalization of justice, the trampling of citizens’ rights, the non-respect of democratic principles, the excessive politicization of the administration, the financial mismanagement, the poverty and the endemic impoverishment has led the army through the National Committee for Development (CRND) to take its responsibilities towards the sovereign people and in its entirety, after having taken the president who is currently with us.
Beyond the shock of the coup, one thing that is of interest to the Ghanaian was how the soldiers’ speech captured a famous quote of Ghana’s former president, Jerry John Rawlings.
“When the people are crushed by their leaders, it is up to the army to give the people their freedom,” the quote by Rawlings is mentioned in the address.
The late Jerry Rawlings was well know for having two successful coup d’états in Ghana.
GhanaFeed.com
