Wade out of step for backing Guinea coup

Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade is out of step. He backed a military coup in Guinea, a most retrogressive move. He had better remember the mattering of Ethiopia’s late Emperor Haile Selassie.

The Emperor sought support from the League of Nations following Italy’s invasion before the outbreak of the World War II. He got a polite hearing. “Today is our turn. Tomorrow it’s yours,” he’s reported to have said. The rest is history.

The body of the late Guinea President Lansana Conté was barely cold when Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara mounted a coup on Tuesday. A military-dominated National Council for Democracy and Development was in charge.

“I am convinced, reassured that I am the president of the republic,” he told journalists the following day. International condemnations poured in.

On Saturday, Mr Camara talked like Africa’s coup makers of the bad old days. He wasn’t alone. In Mauritania, General Ould Abdel Aziz the same day lectured the country’s leaders on governance. He ousted the first democratically elected president in August.

Standing on a concrete platform, Mr Camara announced his programme. Fighting corruption is a priority. Then came the clincher: “For the person who embezzles money, there won’t be a trial. They’ll be killed,” he was quoted by the press.

In the audience of about 1,000 were members of the ousted government, including Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Soure. If there were murmurs of protest, nobody reported. In any case, Mr Camara had a very heavily armed guard, in a military compound at that.

On Friday, Mr Wade had become the first head of state to support the new rulers.

“My feeling is that this group of military men deserve support. We should not throw stones at them,” Mr Wade told Radio France International.
Reportedly, he said elsewhere the international community should take the soldiers at their word.

Mr Wade explained he had talked to Mr Camara by telephone. That isn’t much reassuring, unless he had previous contacts. In any case, that would make him a conspirator against another state.

If Mr Camara is to be taken at his word, witch-hunting can be expected. After all, if there wouldn’t be trials, how is guilt to be ascertained? Expect days of beach executions a la Samuel Doe in Liberia.

Waifs of hypocrisy and even cowardice float.

Mr Conté presided over a corrupt and authoritarian rule since his bloodless coup at the death of President Ahmed Sekou Toure in 1984. Three elections he won were fraudulent.

Figures from the World Bank indicate the country’s par capita is a paltry US$400.

Mr Conté’s rule in later years was marked with social unrest, which the army contained.

Managed properly, Guinea is potentially rich because of its mineral resources. Notably, the country is the world’s leading exporter of bauxite, used to make aluminium.

Why did Mr Camara wait until Mr Conte’s death to act? Cowardice, obviously! Additionally, much as he denies political ambition, it appears he chose an opportune moment to ensure his plans are unlikely to be thwarted.

Media reports indicate substantial support for a change of guard. Indeed the cross section of leaders at Mr Camara’s meeting was impressive.