By Solomon T. Gaye Sr.
Dozens of travelers, residents and commercial vehicles are now stranded at the Guinea main border with Liberia in Ganta, Nimba County.
Speaking to this paper at the border, the Joint Security explained that majority of the travelers stranded at the border are Guineans who came to Liberia for business purposes and were on their way back before the incident in Guinea occurred.
According to the Joint Security, Guinean soldiers are now stopping travelers or commercial vehicles from entering or leaving the country due to the ongoing crisis unfolding that has led to the closure of the borders by the government.
At the border on Monday morning, August 6, 2021, hundreds of commercial vehicles, cargo trucks carrying goods from Liberia to Guinea are all parked waiting for the border to reopen in the county.
A senior officer of the joint security assigned at the border in Ganta, disclosed that hundreds of Liberians who are living in towns, villages along the St. John River belt in Guinea are also stranded.
On Friday, August 3, 2021 there was huge presence of travelers and cargo trucks at the two countries’ security corridors due to the recent overflow of the St. John River at the two border entries.
When contacted, LIS Commander William Budy, and Chairperson of the Joint Security assigned at the main Ganta border refused to comment or speak to press on ground that he was not clothed with the authority to speak on LIS issues.
Meanwhile, the leader of the coup which ousted Guinea’s President Alpha Condé has said a new “union” government would be formed in weeks.
Col. Mamady Doumbouya told ministers who served in Mr. Condé’s government that there would be no witch-hunt against former officials as President Condé remains in detention but, his fate is unclear.
The UN, African Union, and regional body ECOWAS have condemned the coup and called for a return to civilian rule.
“I strongly condemn any takeover of the government by force of the gun and call for the immediate release of President Alpha Condé,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres tweeted.
After hours of gunfire on Sunday, the streets of the capital, Conakry, are reported to be quiet, but it remains unclear if the entire military backs the coup.
Col Doumbouya, who heads the army’s Special Forces unit, did not say on Monday when the new government would be in place.
“A consultation will be launched to set down the broad parameters of the transition, and then a government of national union will be established to steer the transition,” he said in his statement.
He told former ministers that they could not leave the country and had to hand over their official vehicles to the military.
Col Doumbouya also urged mining companies to continue their operations in the country, adding that they would be exempt from the ongoing nationwide curfew.
Guinea is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of bauxite, a necessary component of aluminum. Following the coup, prices of aluminum climbed to their highest in more than a decade due to concerns over supplies.
In a broadcast on state TV on Sunday night, a group of soldiers announced the dissolution of the constitution, the closure of the borders and a nationwide curfew.
They said regional governors had been replaced by military commanders, and the ousted 83-year-old president was safe but in detention.
Col Doumbouya said his soldiers had seized power because they wanted to end rampant corruption and mismanagement.
President Condé was re-elected for a controversial third term in office amid violent protests last year.
The veteran opposition leader was first elected in 2010 in the country’s first democratic transfer of power. Despite overseeing some economic progress, he has since been accused of presiding over numerous human rights abuses and harassment of his critics.After the coup was announced, hundreds of residents poured into the streets of Conakry to celebrate the takeover, climbing on to military vehicles to greet soldiers draped with Guinean flags.
Mamoudou Nagnalen Barry, a founding member of the opposition National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), told the BBC that he had mixed emotions about the coup, but that he mostly welcomed it.
“I will say that I’m sadly happy with what happened,” he said.
“We don’t want to be happy with a coup, but in certain circumstances like [the ones] in Guinea now, we will say we are really happy with what is happening because without that, the country will be stuck in [the] endless power of one person who wants to stay in power forever.”
Mr Barry added he hoped the soldiers would hand power back to civilians.
Guinea’s coup is the fourth West Africa has witnessed in an attempt to undermine democracy in the region since August 2020. There have been two military takeovers in Mali and a failed attempt in Niger.