Electricity crisis plunges Guinea into tragedy

from MAMADU ONDO in Conakry, Guinea
Guinea Bureau
CONAKRY, (CAJ News) – THE power cuts afflicting Guinea have not only plunged the restive West African country into darkness but also thrown it into bloodbath.

This presents yet another headache for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as the region increasingly becomes the most unstable in the continent.

On Tuesday, clashes broke out between protesters and security forces during a demonstration over electricity outages in the Taouyah District of the capital city, Conakry.

Local residents have blocked roads in Taouyah to denounce the death of two individuals protesting the lack of electricity in the district the previous day.

Police officers responded to the demonstration by using tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd, causing protesters to throw stones and other debris in retaliation.

Increased security and localised transport disruptions are commonplace in the country that gained independence from France in 1958.

“Further unrest and clashes are possible if the power outages continue,” a security expert projected.

“Further unrest is possible if the power outages become protracted,” the think-tank added.

Demonstrations have been rife across several locations in Conakry as of late March 14 following power outages.

Defiant protesters have also erected barricades in Dixinn, Hamdallaye, Lambadji, Sinfonia and Taouyah neighborhoods of the capital city.

Police are facing an uphill task removing the barricades as stone-throwing protesters run amok.

The Guinean Electricity Company, known by the French identity Electricite de Guinee or EDG in short, has assured customers that power would gradually be restored.

However, it has not given a timeline for when services will be fully restored.

The country of 14 million people is on tenterhooks amid recent clashes between striking trade unions and subsequent internet shutdowns by the administration of military coup leader, Mamady Doumbouya (44). That time, an unspecified number of people died.

Doumbouya leads a regime that ousted President Alpha Conde in 2021. Conde was attempting to rule more than the constitutional two-term limit.

In February, his National Committee of Reconciliation and Development inexplicably dissolved the government led by Prime Minister Bernard Goumou. The junta has pledged polls for December 2024 to return the country to democracy.

– CAJ News