On October 2 1958, Guinea attained independence and proclaimed its sovereignty. Ahmed Sékou Touré, the first president of the country, one of the pioneers of the country's independence, promised to make Guinea a prosperous country and the economic engine of Africa.

In spite of the potentials of its subsoil, Guinea quickly lapsed into tyranny carefully orchestrated by Sékou Touré who sent some of the best sons of Guinea to the gallows. President Sékou Touré died on March 26, 1984, leaving as a legacy a country completely run down by 26 years of dictatorship and economic policies leaning towards socialism.

On April 3, 1984, a Military Committee for National Recovery (CMRN) took over power. Colonel Lansana Conté was made the leader of the country by his comrades.

The Constitution was dissolved, and the Institutions of the Republic suspended. The CMRN announced its intention to turn away from the communist bloc, the revolution and advocated liberalism and democracy. A Transitional Council for National Recovery (CTRN) was set up to give the country a new Constitution.

The CTRN produced a Basic Law which was submitted to the people in the form of a referendum in 1990. It was in 1991 that the Basic Law and other establishment laws, particularly those on press freedom were passed. Guinea was thus set on the process of democratization which should lead to the holding of free and transparent elections.

Presidential elections were planned for December 1993. President Conté declared his candidacy against seven opposition leaders. He won the election though it was disputed by the other candidates. The Colonel, who over the years became a General, would remain in power for 24 years with the help of arms and successive electoral fraud.

During this time, Guinea was faced with political, economic and social crises. General Conté, ravaged by sickness, had abandoned the country in the hands of looters, corrupt persons, predators of all types and drug traffickers. On the political front the institutions of the Republic had so stagnated that the National Assembly had not had any elections. In January and February 2007, social protest attained its high point when labour unions declared widespread strike actions which brought the entire country to a standstill.

The President sent the Army to crack down on the demonstrations. The death toll was heavy: more than two hundred dead, several wounded and massive loss of property. As an honourable way out of this situation, General Conté appointed a Prime Minister, as head of Government.

The latter formed a broad-based government which achieved nothing. A new Prime Minister as head of government was appointed The latter, formed a broad-based government, which included for the first time some opposition political parties. It was against this background that President, General Lansana Conté died on December 22, 2008.

In the early hours of December 23, 2008, a group of soldiers who came together to form the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), announced that the Army had taken over power. Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, who read the first speech on behalf of the CNDD, promised to carry out house cleaning in Guinea and hand over power to civilians in 2010.

Guineans hailed the arrival of the soldiers who launched the fight against drug traffickers, those who plundered the nation's coffers and other corrupt elements. The political forces, civil society actors, the labour movement all supported the junta which promised to leave the scene in 2009 instead of 2010. After exercising power for eight months, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara changed his posture, and made known his intention to stand as candidate in the presidential election slated for January 31, 2010.

Groups cleverly set up by the junta to proclaim support for Captain Dadis Camara's candidacy took the streets of Conakry and the big towns in the hinterland by storm. This marked the beginning of the "divorce" between the CNDD and the forum of the nation's active forces made up of the opposition politicians, labour movements and civil society actors. Anti-Dadis movements emerged and grew within national and international opinion, in order to "block the way for Captain Moussa Dadis Camara and his junta". The junta, finding itself cornered both within and outside the country, threatened to go after leaders of political parties.

The private media which allowed on air citizens who spoke against the candidacy of the Captain were barred from airing interactive programmes, while transfer of messages by cell phones was blocked by the junta.This situation caused anxiety and discontentment.

All the ingredients for a social explosion were in place. Dialogue broke down completely between the junta and the nation's active forces. The latter planned a peaceful rally on September 28, 2009 to say "No" to the candidacy of the leader of the junta, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara. The government reacted by declaring September 28 a "public holiday all across the country".

Nevertheless, the opposition held on to its call for the march planned for the September 28 Stadium. On the D-day, opposition activists and sympathisers responded in their numbers to the opposition's call. The crack-down of the demonstration by members of Captain Dadis' guards led by his aide-de-camp, Capitain Toumba Diakité, was severe and bloody. There were more than 200 dead and more than 1800 wounded. The massacre was unanimously condemned by the international community.Currently, the noose is tightening around Captain Dadis and the CNDD, who are being called upon to quit power.

Media Overview

The economic crisis which followed the bad governance generated by President Lansana Conté's regime did not favour the economic development of the media in Guinea.

The newspapers which appeared regularly continued to stagnate in bundles of unsold copies. Apart from the media group Le Lynx-La Lance, l'Indépendant-le Démocrate, l'Observateur, le Diplomate, la Nouvelle Tribune, l'Enquêteur, Nouvel Elite, le Populaire, Solidarité, l'Eclair, the other publications pursued their practice of appearing when they found a sponsor. Corruption attained its apogee in media circles.

Most of the 400 newspapers registered with the National Council for Communication (CNC), the body in charge of regulating information in Guinea, only appeared when they had "commissioned articles". This brought about a jockeying for position and the defence of hidden agenda among newspaper directors .

Private radios stations which were recently established have not been insulated from the economic conditions either. In the absence of advertising contracts, many of them made do with press releases and or public announcements which did not bring in much revenue to pay their staff.

While some radio stations have refrained from trading their programmes for money, others, on the other hand, did not hesitate to look for "sponsors" in return for hardly commendable services. Some businessmen, aides of the former regime, even set up radio stations which carried on their own propaganda all day long.

The internet sites were also undermined by the economic conditions. Commissioned dispatches were published against interest groups, individuals or political parties.

The public service media continued to be their master's voice. Information on the national radio and television stations, write-ups in Horoya, the national daily newspaper, the Guinea News Agency (AGP), the secondary radio stations RKS (Kaloum radio) reflected this state of affairs. And since the coming of the CNDD and the junta to power, the public service media have been held hostage, having become the sound boxes of the government.

The new developments for the year were the establishment and connection to satellite of the of the state-owned television station, "Guinée Télévision 1". This channel, which is supposed to sell the image of Guinea to the outside world, has only been carrying out the propaganda of the leader of the junta, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara.