The Guinea ruling junta has announced the plan to hold a constitutional referendum in the country in 2024.
This has been described as a key step towards the return of civilian rule after the military in Guinea seized power in a coup.
The military Head of State in the country, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who overthrew the country’s first democratically elected president in 2021, made the announcement during an end-of-year speech late Sunday.
However, he did not indicate the time that the referendum will hold in Guinea.
Doumbouya said, “In the new year, a new constitution which resembles us and brings us together will be submitted to a referendum.”
The Head of State promised the citizens of Guinea a constitution “approved by the people and which is not a copy and paste but a constitution, which draws inspiration from the past to together build our future”.
According to him, people appointed by the state will soon be named to lead municipal councils, which were elected in 2018 and whose mandates end in the first few months of the year.
The councils are currently mostly headed by officials from parties of the ousted civilian ex-president Alpha Conde or former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo which are critical of the military leadership.
The head of the junta said the announcements were due to a wish to “continue the considerable efforts to return to constitutional order through the organisation of free, democratic and transparent elections” respecting the timetable for a transition back to civilian rule.
Conde took office in 2010 after decades of authoritarian rule.
He came under intense pressure after pushing through a constitutional reform that was allegedly designed to allow him to run for a third term.
Doumbouya promised to hand over to elected civilians by January 2026 following the intense pressure from global powers.
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