West African Journalists condemned military takeover in Guinea

The West Africa Network of Journalists for Security and Development (WAJSD) on Thursday condemned the illegal seizure of power by the military in Guinea and called for social resistance against the action.

The WAJSD urged journalists in Guinea to immediately blackout the military and launch a relentless media war against the soldiers; “the military must be told to respect and adhere to democratic principle… military intervention in the democratic order is outdated in the Sub-Region,” Mr Francis Ameyibor, WAJSD Deputy General Secretary, stated in a statement in Accra.

Mr Ameyibor said: "The illegal takeover of power constitutes a blatant violation of the Constitution of Guinea and is in contravention of the Lome Declaration of July 2000, the Constitutive Act of the AU and the African Charter on Democracy, Election and Governance."

The WAJSD Deputy General Secretary also called on the military to respect the tenets of constitutional democracy to ensure a peaceful transition with a view to quickly holding free and transparent elections.

Mr Ameyibor also commended the international community for expressing their disgust about the takeover, but challenged the Sub-Regional body ECOWAS, and African Union (AU) to move in immediately to restore law and order in Guinea.

Hours after the announcement of the death of Guinean President Lansana Conte by the Guinean government on Monday, December, 22 a self-claimed National Council for Democracy and Development led by Captain Moussa Camara said on radio that it had dissolved the government and suspended the constitution.

In a related development, the West African Action Network on Small Arms and Light Weapons (WAANSA) called for sobriety in Guinea, following the death of the President and the subsequent coup.

Mr Baffour Dokyi Amoa, WAANSA President, in an interview with Ghana News Agency in Accra expressed the hope that the Guinean constitution would be respected.

He said: “A change of power by force is unacceptable. As is known, this is also the position of the international community, including the African Union. Such anti-constitutional actions deserve condemnation."

He urged the illegitimate military Leadership, which has pledged to hold democratic presidential elections within two years, to handover immediately and give the Guineans an opportunity to continue its stable development within the bounds of the Constitution and in the interest of all sections of the Guinean society.