Guinea junta slams Ecowas chief

GUINEA’S ruling military junta yesterday accused the president of the west African regional bloc Ecowas of “lies” over his call for sanctions on Conakry if it seeks a three-year transition back to civilian rule. The poor but mineral-rich nation has been ruled by the military since a coup in September 2021 that ousted president Alpha Conde, in power since 2010.

“Crude lies and intimidation are backward steps that dishonour (Economic Community of West African States chief Umaro Sissoco Embalo) and at the same time tarnish Ecowas’s image,” Colonel Amara Camara, a senior junta figure, said.

During a visit to Guinea, Embalo said he had secured an agreement with the junta to give way to elected civilians after two years, which Camara described as a “lie”.

Three years in power before a return to civilian rule is “unacceptable for Ecowas,” said Embalo, who is also president of Guinea-Bissau. “Unacceptable and non-negotiable,” he said ahead of this week’s before an Ecowas summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Embalo said that if the junta maintained that timetable, there would be sanctions. The West Africa bloc has been struggling with a string of military coups in the region in the past two years.

Camara accused Embalo, who took over the rotating presidency of the conference of west African heads of state a few weeks ago, of being “distinguished by his personal positions in defiance of his fellow presidents”.