Guinea’s President Alpha Condé (83) appears to have been toppled by a military coup following hours of heavy gunfire near the presidential palace in the West African state’s capital, Conakry.

Earlier in the day a bridge linking the mainland to the Kaloum peninsular where most of the ministries and the presidential palace are situated, was sealed off with soldiers posted around the palace.

A veteran opposition leader, Condé was first elected in 2010 in the Guinea’’s first democratic transfer of power. Last year President Condé was controversially was re-elected for a third term in office amid violent protests. Despite some economic progress, he has been accused of presiding over human rights abuses.

Guinea is rich in natural resources but it is one of the world’s poorest countries.

National Committee for Reconciliation and Development

Those behind the coup said that all land and air borders had been closed for a week and announced a nationwide curfew “until further notice” as well as the replacement of governors by the military. Local people have been asked by soldiers to stay in their homes.

The coup leaders have appeared on national television claiming to have dissolved the government. Calling themselves the National Committee for Reconciliation and Development, they announced that the constitution had been dissolved and that there would be consultations to create a new and more “inclusive” one.

Many reports say the coup was led by an elite unit headed by a former French legionnaire, Lt Col Mamady Doumbouya.

Mamady Doumbouya, is reported to have said:

“We have dissolved government and institutions. We are going to rewrite a constitution together. The personalization of political life is over. We will no longer entrust politics to one man. We will entrust it to the people.”

The coup leaders said that they have convened a meeting of Conde’s cabinet ministers and other top officials today in Conakry.

The UN has called for Conde’s release and criticized the “takeover” by force in Guinea. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he is “personally following the situation in Guinea very closely.”

As a result of the unrest, Guinea’s football World Cup qualifying match against Morocco at home on 6 September has been postponed. The Moroccan team is trapped in Guinea following the coup.

The coup attempt in Guinea is the fourth attempted coup in West Africa in just over a year, with two military takeovers in Mali and a failed attempt in Niger since August 2020.