On Monday, Guinea’s junta chief, Mamady Doumbouya, is currently leading the ongoing presidential elections held over the weekend.
According to initial results published late Monday, Doumbouya, who had pledged not to run for office after seizing power four years ago, faced eight rivals for the presidency. However, the main opposition leaders were barred from running and had urged a boycott of the vote.
By deciding to run, the general reversed his initial vow to relinquish power and return the mineral-rich but impoverished West African nation to civilian rule by the end of 2024.
Doumbouya, 41, performed strongly in districts of the capital, Conakry, often winning over 80 percent of the votes according to official partial results announced on RTG public television by Djenabou Toure, head of the General Directorate of Elections.
He also held a similar lead in other areas, including Coyah, a town near Conakry, as well as Boffa and Fria in the west, Gaoual in the northwest, Koundara and Labe in the north, and Nzerekore in the southeast.
Turnout for Sunday’s polls was reported at 85 percent, according to Toure. However, a citizens’ movement advocating for the return of civilian rule questioned this figure.
“A significant majority of Guineans chose to boycott this electoral charade,” the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution stated in a release on Monday.
In September 2021, Doumbouya led a coup that toppled Guinea’s first freely elected president, Alpha Conde. Since then, he has cracked down on civil liberties, banned protests, and arrested or exiled opponents.
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