I have been closely monitoring the elections in Sierra Leone’s neighbour, Guinea-Conakry, for several weeks now leading to Monday’s declaration of the winner, Alpha Conde.
The elections were tough for the two main rivals Cellou Diallo and Alpha, who come from the two largest ethnic groups in Guinea, the Peuhl (Cellou) and the Malinke(Alpha). In Sierra Leone we call them Fullah and Mandingo.
Alpha was badly beaten in the first round with less than 20 percent of the vote(he came second) and Cellou was at the top with over 40 percent. Many people therefore thought Cellou was going to win in the run off. But Alpha came from behind with a resounding 52.52 percent to clinch the presidency, something he had been chasing for decades. He was in and out of jail and lost two presidential elections during the reign of dictator Lansana Conte.
Now, the results have been announced by an impartial electoral commssion headed by a foreigner, a Malian with a military background, Siaka Sangare. International observers and foreign diplomats in Guinea seem to be have given the whole process a clean slate. But Alpha and his supporters, as would be expected, are not happy. They say there has been too much fraud.
So what next? There has not been any concession speech from Cellou yet to the best of our knowledge although Alpha has spoken, calling for reconciliation and peace. The continental body, the African Union, has also called for peace too. I hope all Guineans would listen.
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