Guinea needs a bitter pill; but will Africa find it?, By Azu Ishiekwene

Zambia’s peaceful and orderly election in August offered a glimmer of hope that Africa’s story might be changing.

Eighty-three-year-old Guinean President, Alpha Conde, who wangled himself in place for a third presidential term in 2020 was kicked out of office, sparking images of deja vu in what would be the fourth military strike – three of them successful – on the continent in six months.I’ve heard the argument that Conde didn’t have to go; that his country needed him more than he needed the country, and that the crooked referendum by which he gave himself an extra 10 years was for the good of Guinea.

Sure, if Conde had served out his additional two terms of 10 years bringing his total to 20 and later stepped down at 93 years of age with his juices still flowing, he would still not have outdone his predecessors, Ahmed Sekou Toure, who ruled for 26 years; or Lansana Conte, who ruled for 24. Africa has been here before, ruled by military strongmen with the God complex. And the continent still carries the scars of the abuse of power and millions of lives lost to instability and conflicts often rooted in violent and disorderly transfer of power caused by military dictatorships.

The stifling grip of France over the economies of these countries, which virtually sucks the life out of them, has compounded the misery and vulnerability of a number of the Francophone countries. Did Conde fall because of his country’s resistance to the incredibly lopsided CFA arrangement, a legacy of French colonial rule, which ties 50 per cent of the deposits of 14 Francophone countries to the French treasury at a fixed rate? What did the French military, which has a significant presence in the region, know about the coup in Mali? Did they look the other way during the palace coup in...

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