Mamma Kandeh has called on the president of Guinea Conakry Alpha Conde to discard his plan to amend Guinea’s constitution to enable him stay in power.
Conde has been the president of Guinea since 2010 but the 81-year-old has announced plans to remain in office. Guinea’s current constitution allows a president to serve only a two five-year terms but Mr Conde wants an amendment to the law. Protests have erupted in parts of the country as soon as the announcement was made with several people reported to have been killed by security forces.
GDC leader Mamma Kandeh said on Sunday “I have learned with great dismay and utterly shocked by unfolding events in Guinea Conakry.”
Kandeh said in a statement: “Efforts by president Alpha Conde to subvert the will of the Guinean people by way of attempting to amend the constitution for an unconstitutional third term is unacceptable.
“I and the Gambia Democratic Congress party are in solidarity with the people of Guinea in their quest for rule of law and constitutional order. I condemn the brutality meted out to unarmed civilian protesters and call on president Alpha Conde to respect the constitution and the people of Guinea and to drop his sham referendum for a third presidential term
“It is utterly shocking that a statesman who visited the Gambia several times in 2017 to broker a political deal and brought an end to the impasse in the Gambia will now cause so much pain and blood shed in his own country just to remain in power.
“I am a firm believer of an unaltered presidential term limit and therefore call on regional powers, ECOWAS, AU and the UN to urge president Conde to step down at the end of his second term.
“Any attempt to fraudulently amend the constitution for a supposed third term will be an affront to the sub regional efforts for a multi party and presidential term limit democracies.”
