West Africa to impose travel ban on Guinea’s ruling junta, freeze its financial assets

Following a military coup, West African leaders have decided to impose travel bans and freeze the financial assets of members of Guinea’s ruling junta and their families. According to AP, the President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Jean Claude Brou, said that the West African leaders have also insisted that there should be no “need for very long transition for the country to return to democratic order”. The latest development comes after Guinea’s coup leaders set a number of conditions for releasing ousted President Alpha Condé. 

The sanctions were announced on September 16 after an Extraordinary Summit on Guinea in Ghana’s capital, Accra. The mediators with the regional group had also travelled to Guinea in a bid to meet with junta leaders and check on the condition of Condé. It is worth mentioning that the deposed Guinean President has been held at an undisclosed location since being detained during the September 5 coup. 

Members of the ECOWAS delegation that visited Guinea spoke to Conde’s doctor. Ghanaian Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchway informed that the doctors “ascertained that indeed physically, he’s (Condé) very well”. However, she also added that the former president is still coming to terms with the fact that his government has been toppled after ruling since 2010. 

“For anybody who has gone through such a traumatic experience like he did, mentally, it’s not the best, not to say that mentally we found anything wrong, but he was quite shocked; he’s still in a state of shock,” Botchway added.

Aftermath of Guinea military coup 

Meanwhile, Guinea’s coup leaders have yet to announced their proposed time frame for handing over the power to a civilian transitional government. They haven’t even outlined how quickly new elections can be organised. Guinea’s coup leaders have formed what they call the National Rally and Development Committee (CNRD), which dissolved the government and the constitution. The military even appointed army officers to head regional administrations and ordered the central bank and other banks to freeze all government accounts, in a bid to secure state assets. 

Mamady Doumbouya has accused Condé’s government of “endemic corruption” and “trampling on citizens rights”. The ousted president, who has been ruling the country since 2010, has faced criticism since he assumed the third term in office, saying that the two-term limit did not apply to him because of a referendum he had put forth. Condé was re-elected, however, the decision prompted protests across the nation.

(With inputs from AP)