Guinea
Guinea, also known as Guinea-Conakry, is a low-income country with low-range performance in most categories of the Global State of Democracy framework, and mid-range performance in Participation. It is amongst the bottom 25 of the world’s countries in the majority of factors of democratic performance. Over the last five years, the country has experienced significant declines across multiple aspects of Representation, Rights, and Rule of Law. These stark declines have followed a 2021 coup that overthrew President Alpha Condé and installed a military regime. Economically, Guinea remains heavily reliant on agriculture and mining bauxite, diamonds, gold, and iron ore.
Present-day Guinea was long inhabited by hunter-gatherer populations before the dawn of the Mali and Fulani empires. The Portuguese arrived in the 15th century and developed a slave trade; the country eventually became a French colony in the 19th century. A 1958 independence referendum made Guinea the first French colony in Africa to gain independence. The early years of independence were marked by the authoritarian rule of Presidents Sekou Touré and Lansana Conté. During this time, Guinea experienced coups, human rights abuses – including the use of concentration camps—and severe poverty. It was also impacted by the effects of civil wars in neighboring countries. While the 1990 constitution allowed multiparty elections to be held in 1993, the first democratic election did not occur until 2010, when Alpha Condé was elected president.
Throughout Guinea’s post-independence history, the polity has been significantly affected by ethnic cleavages. Ethnic and regional voting is widespread, as politicians exploit ethnic divides between the Fulani (approximately 40 percent of the population) and the Malinké (approximately 30 percent) to win power; these divisions have also resulted in ethnic violence and turmoil. Indeed, many scholars have labelled the degree of political polarization that exists between the government and the opposition to be “extreme.” Other issues of identity continue to divide Guineans. The country has one of the highest rates of female genital mutilation at 95 per cent, gender-based violence affects nine in ten women and girls, and women’s political representation has remained weak despite the adoption of the Gender Parity Law in 2019. Guinea is also one of the few former French colonies that continues to criminalize same-sex relationships.
For the general population, issues of democracy, development, and corruption drive everyday political concerns, and all three played a major role in the 2021 military coup. President Condé had sought and won a third term in 2020 despite the widespread support for a two-term limit. Since the coup, protesters calling for a return to democracy have been met with excessive police force. Guineans are also concerned about the state of development in their country, as the economic situation is poor, and the national budget allocates less than 12 per cent to education, while total health expenditures amount to less than four per cent of GDP. Finally, corruption had been a growing concern in recent years, which further undermined confidence in the administration.
Over the next few years, it will be important to watch the country’s performance in Representation and Rule of Law. As a result of the 2021 coup, the parliament and Guinea’s electoral democracy remain suspended. The coup and the potential transition have major regional implications, as economic development in West Africa has been increasingly threatened by rising insecurity. While ethnic politics are complicating the return to democracy, the military junta proposed in 2022 a three-year timetable for a transition back to democratic government and elections. Potential delays in this transition should be monitored carefully.
(Last updated August 2024)
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
July 2024
Abduction of activists by security forces sparks nation-wide protests
On 9 July, Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah, leaders of the opposition coalition, National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), were arbitrarily arrested by security forces along with FNDC coordinator, Mohamed Cissé. While Cissé was released the following day, the whereabouts of Sylla and Bah remain unknown. The Attorney-General has publicly denied their arrests. According to rights groups, the incident is part of a broader crackdown on dissent, marked by arbitrary arrests and secret detentions. The arrests prompted a nation-wide lawyers’ strike and civil society demonstrations, defying the May 2022 ban on political protests imposed by the junta.
Sources: Jeune Afrique (1), Jeune Afrique (2), United Nations Human Rights Office, BBC, Africa Confidential, Le Monde, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Front Line Defenders, Human Rights Watch
May 2024
Guinea revokes broadcast licenses for six major media outlets
The erosion of press freedom continued in Guinea as media regulators revoked the operating licenses of six privately-owned independent broadcasters – four radio stations and two TV channels – citing “non-compliance with the content of the specifications”, without providing further detail. The media outlets are some of the most watched and listened to in the country and are known to be critical of the government. The six outlets, along with two others, have been jammed in Guinea since December 2023, when authorities quoted national security imperatives as justification for imposing the restrictions. The revocation of licenses – made public on 22 May - escalates the situation. The media outlets have filed an appeal with the media regulators for the decision to be annulled. Several rights watchdogs have called on the Guinean authorities to reverse these measures and protect freedom of the press. These events represent an intensification of repression of media freedom and restrictions of the access to information observed over the past year.
Sources: Committee to Protect Journalists, Guinée Matin, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Voice of America (1), Voice of America (2), Le Monde, Guinean Ministry of Information and Communication, International IDEA
December 2023
Media regulator forces multiple broadcasters off the air
Media freedom and access to information in Guinea deteriorated further in December as the High Authority for Communication (Haute Autorite de la Communication, HAC) moved against three television channels and two radio channels. Citing national security, the HAC forbade the distribution of the television channels Djoma, Evasion and Espace through cable networks. FM radio broadcasts from Evasion and Espace are reportedly being jammed. Another private radio station, Ndimba, was informed that its broadcast license would be withdrawn for failing to pay annual fees (a charge that the station’s director denies). Meanwhile, social media platforms WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok have been inaccessible from Guinean IP addresses since the end of November. On 29 December, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk called on the Guinean government to reverse these measures and uphold freedom of expression.
Sources: Africa News, Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists, Bloomberg, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
October 2023
Journalists protesting media censorship arrested
Since August, the military junta ruling Guinea has made it impossible to access the online media outlet Guinée Matin from inside the country. (It remains online and accessible with a VPN.) On 16 October, the Guinea Press Professionals Union (Syndicat des Professionnels de la Presse de Guinée, SPPG) organized a protest against the junta’s censorship of the outlet, in spite of a ban on demonstrations in effect since May 2022. The police forcefully supressed the protest, using teargas to disperse the assembly and arresting as many as 13 of the journalists who participated.
Sources: News24, Aminata, Reporters Without Borders, Media Foundation for West Africa, Committee to Protect Journalists
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Global ranking per category of democratic performance in 2023
Basic Information
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Performance by category over the last 6 months
Global State of Democracy Indices
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Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time
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