Dialogos

Guinea: Coup Leader Doumbouya Elected President After 'Elections'

Published December 31, 2025, 13:00
Guinea: Coup Leader Doumbouya Elected President After 'Elections'

General Mamadi Doumbouya, head of the junta in Guinea, was elected president with a landslide 86.72% in last Sunday's 'elections', according to results announced by the 'electoral commission'. The elections were essentially a sham, with key opponents excluded and allegations of systematic fraud, the expulsion of observers, ballot stuffing, and intimidation. The outcome legitimizes Doumbouya's power, four years after the 2021 coup that overthrew President Alpha Condé. Despite initially promising not to seek office and return the country to civilian rule, he voted for a new constitution in September 2025 that allowed him to run. Guinea controls 1/4 of the world's bauxite reserves, crucial for aluminum, and its Simandou mines attract investment from China and Western companies.