By Leshi Adebayo
In what came as a shocking development to the world, a group of soldiers, on Sunday, ousted Guinea’s President, Alpha Condé from power and detained him.
According a statement on State TV, they ordered the country’s cabinet to attend a mandatory meeting on Monday, saying those who refuse to attend will be considered rebels.
Meanwhile, President Condé is still in detention, his fate undecided.
Special Forces Group Commander, Colonel Mahamady Doumbouya confirmed the takeover. However, little is known about this man.
BBC reports that the only information about him is that he is a Malinke native like President Conde, and hails from Guinea’s Eastern Kankan Region.
Here are five major details to know about the commander, culled from SaharaReporters.
1. He was based in Forecariah, a western part of Guinea. He served there under the bureau of territorial surveillance and the general intelligence services.
2. Col. Doumbouya reportedly attended the War College in Paris, France.
3. He has a military experience of 15 years that saw him involve in operational missions in Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Central African Republic and close protection in Israel, Cyprus, UK and Guinea.
4. The colonel is said to have ‘brilliantly’ completed the operational protection specialist training at four places namely:
i. the International Security Academy in Israel,
ii. the unit commanders’ training course at Senegal’s Infantry Application School,
iii. the staff officer training in Gabon’s Staff College of Libreville (EEML) and
iv. the War College in Paris.
5. Until 2018, he served as a legionary in the French army. President Conde had asked him to return to Guinea to lead the GFS which was established the same year.
Leshi Adebayo
