Threats of sanctions: Guinea responds to ECOWAS

At the end of its summit on Friday, ECOWAS issued a one-month ultimatum to the military in Guinea for a clear timetable for the transition. The junta is thus required to present the timetable by April 25 at the latest. In Conakry, they say that « this is only binding on those who have spoken.

Government spokesman Ousmane Gaoual Diallo, in an interview with Guineenews, said that the authorities in Conakry do not intend to comply. « Guinea was not represented at this meeting. Those who gave this schedule are responsible. Guinea continues to evolve at the pace of its people and taking into account the imperatives of its situation.

Diallo invites ECOWAS to understand that one cannot walk « towards democracy by diktat ». The spokesman believes that ECOWAS should not consider Guinea as a country at war or in crisis.

About the threats of sanctions, the authorities in Conakry do not seem to be shaken. « There are already other countries under sanctions. The only effect this has is to suffocate the population. Diallo wonders if the mission of ECOWAS is « to create conditions of precariousness and poverty for the peoples of the sub-region? »