Why West African francophone states are losing sight of democracy
The military coup in Guinea earlier this month was the latest of eight over recent years in West Africa, and notably in countries that are former French colonies. Meanwhile, regimes in the region are introducing ever tighter restrictions on public freedoms, and the divide between populations and their governments is growing. African affairs correspondent Rémi Carayol reports.
OnOn the morning of September 5th, Guinea’s president Alpha Condé, who had been in office since 2010, was overthrown in a military coup and taken into detention. The coup was led by Guinean special forces leader, colonel Mamady Doumbouya, 41, a former member of France’s Foreign Legion.
