Guinea has been suspended from all ECOWAS governing bodies with immediate effect, according to the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The suspension is effective immediately and will stay in force until further notice.
This was said in a communiqué released after an emergency ECOWAS meeting conducted online on Wednesday, September 8, 2021, presided over by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
ECOWAS is also “to immediately dispatch a high-level ECOWAS mission to Guinea to assess the situation”
It has also asked that the coup leaders immediately free Alpha Condé immediately.
In addition, the regional body requested that the military guarantee the physical safety of the deposed President.
“The Authority demands respect for the physical safety of the President of the Republic and Head of State, H.E. Alpha Condé, and his immediate and unconditional release, as well as that of all arrested persons.”
“It holds the coup plotters, under the aegis of the National Committee for Reconciliation and Development (CNRD), individually and collectively responsible for the physical safety of President Alpha Condé and the arrested persons.”
About the Guinea coup
After gunfire in Guinea’s capital, a group of soldiers announced the dissolution of the constitution, the closure of the borders, and a nationwide curfew in a broadcast on state TV on Sunday evening [September 4, 2021].
The soldiers, led by a Special Forces Colonel, Mamady Doumbouya, had said regional governors had been replaced by military commanders and that Mr. Condé was under arrest.
The UN, African Union, and ECOWAS have condemned the coup and called for a return to civilian rule.
The coup in Guinea was the fourth attempted coup in West Africa in the last year with two military takeovers in Mali and a failed coup in Niger.
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