Gambiaj.com – (CONAKRY, Guinea) – Guinea’s transitional leader, General Mamadi Doumbouya, has been declared the winner of the country’s presidential election, securing 86.72 percent of the vote in the first round, according to provisional results announced late on December 30 by the General Directorate of Elections.
The vote comes four years after the military coup that brought Doumbouya to power. The election was widely seen as low-stakes, given the absence of the country’s major opposition figures, including deposed president Alpha Condé and former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, both of whom are in exile.
In the Guinean capital, Conakry, the announcement of the results was met with little public reaction. Streets remained largely empty late into the night, with only a small group of Doumbouya supporters briefly gathering to celebrate his victory. No spontaneous demonstrations or widespread celebrations were reported.
Several candidates conceded defeat and congratulated Doumbouya shortly after the results were announced. However, Abdoulaye Yéro Baldé, who finished second with 6.59 percent of the vote, and Faya Millimouno, who placed third with 2.04 percent, did not immediately recognize the outcome.
Elections of Exclusion in a Context of Restrictions
The official voter turnout was put at 80.95 percent, slightly lower than the initial figure of 85 percent announced earlier by electoral authorities. The provisional results are still subject to validation by Guinea’s Supreme Court.
The electoral process unfolded against a backdrop of political exclusion, with leading opposition parties absent from the race.
Cellou Dalein Diallo, leader of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), had previously described the vote as an “electoral masquerade” and urged his supporters to boycott the poll.
In their final statements, observation missions from the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) noted the absence of major opposition parties but commended Guinean authorities for the orderly conduct of the election.
Both organizations are expected to fully reintegrate Guinea, four years after suspending the country following the coup.
However, the African Union also raised concerns over human rights issues, urging Guinean authorities to more effectively address what it described as a pattern of “kidnappings and disappearances” during the transition period. The AU warned that unresolved cases and allegations of abuses risk undermining public trust.
The Bloc Libéral, led by opposition candidate Faya Millimouno, has strongly contested the credibility of the election.
The party claims that at least 13 of its officials were arrested or threatened during the campaign, including the alleged abduction earlier this month of a deputy campaign director who remains missing.
Bloc Libéral president Oumar Sanoh said the party had gathered evidence of fraud, citing reports compiled by more than 400 observers deployed across the country and a video circulating on social media that allegedly shows irregularities during voting.
With many prominent political figures either in exile or imprisoned, the Bloc Libéral remains one of the few opposition parties still operating openly in Guinea. The party continues to denounce what it calls “fraudulent practices” and “serious irregularities,” even as the transition period draws to a close under Doumbouya’s newly affirmed mandate.
