The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is upbeat about the return of democracy to Guinea as 6.7 million voters lined up on Sunday to elect a new President in the West African country following the September 2021 coup that toppled the democratic order in the country.
The optimism was expressed in a statement issued by the ECOWAS Commission when a delegation of ECOWAS observers led by Dr Abdoulie Janneh, head of the organisation's observation mission, visited several polling stations and offices located in the municipalities of Kaloum, Dixin and Boulbinet, in Conakry, to witness the effective start of election in Guinea on Sunday.
The delegation included the Commissioner for Political Affairs of the ECOWAS Commission, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah; ECOWAS Resident Representative in Guinea, Louis Blaise Aka Brou; John Akel Ballout Jr, Liberian Ambassador to Nigeria and Permanent Representative to ECOWAS; the representative of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Edwin Melvin Snowe Jr; the Head of the ECOWAS Electoral Assistance Division, Mr. Serigne Mamadou KA, as well as other officials.
A second ECOWAS delegation, led by Senator Lawan Gana Guba, Deputy Head of the ECOWAS EOM, accompanied by Mr Abdou Kolley, Director of cabinet of the Office of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Olawale Emmanuel Awe, Ambassador of Nigeria to ECOWAS, Ms Marie Saine, representative of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, visited several polling stations in the municipalities of Conakry, including Gbéssia and Kaloum, to observe and soak up the atmosphere at the opening of the polling stations.
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Speaking to the press after these visits, Dr Janneh emphasised the importance of this crucial step towards a return to constitutional and democratic order in the country, and expressed his hope that the vote would take place in favourable conditions.
Gen. Mamadi Doumbouya, leader of the September 2021 coup that deposed the 83-year old civilian President Alpha Condé, is now preparing to convert himself into a democratically elected ruler.
Doumbouya is being challenged by eight others at the ballot box even as he has dominated the campaign, with his image plastered all over the streets of Conakry, Guinea's capital city, in an election where some opposition parties have called for a boycott.
The most prominent opposition figure of the past 10 years, Cellou Dalein Diallo, with a large following of the electorate, has been excluded from the contest.
