Adama Barrow in Conakry: “I Come to Learn From my Big Brother”

Gambian President Adama Abbarow is on day two of his state visit in Conakry. President Barrow told reporters in Guinea that his presence in Conakry is for the benefit of both countries.

“I am pleased to be here. This is my very first visit to the Republic of Guinea. This trip aims to meet my counterpart and big brother, Professor Alpha Condé, to discuss issues of common interest to our two states. In addition, we will have discussions which I believe will be beneficial for the entire ECOWAS sub-region,” Adama Barrow told the Guinean State media.

According to the Gambian head of state, his host is a big brother worth emulating, given his experience and knowledge. “Also, it is worth knowing that my big brother, Prof. Alpha Condé is an experienced president. For my part, I am a young president, and I come to learn from my big brother. It is no secret at the Head of State level that President Alpha Condé is a knowledgeable and very experienced person. And you can’t buy experience. You have to have it,” said Adama Barrow.

According to Alpha Condé, Adama Barrow and him “will discuss bilateral issues, integration, security and peace, sub-regional and regional cooperation, and also conclude cooperation agreements.”

On Friday, the Gambian president visited the Kaleta and Souapiti dams. Alpha Condé and Adama Barrow then went to the Autonomous Port of Conakry. Finally, the two heads of state visited the Bolloré Logistics facilities there.

Alpha Condé and his contempt of accountability and his opposition

President Alpha Condé only briefed his government on his Gambian counterpart’s “friendly and working visit” during a cabinet meeting held a few hours before Adama Barrow’s landing in Conakry.

Moreover, no member of the Guinean opposition was invited to the welcoming ceremony of President Barrow.

Under normal circumstances, the law in Guinea Conakry requires that opposition leaders be part of the Republican protocol after the Guinean President and the institutions under his purview. Yet, Alpha Condé invited none of his opponents to participate in welcoming President Adama Barrow.

Mamadou Sylla, the leader of the UDG opposition party, appears to be very upset at President Condé’s snob, and he wouldn’t let the Conaky media out of the picture. “No one called me. The President’s chief of protocol, Seinkoun Kaba, can tell you why I have not been invited. He never called, although he has my contacts,” Mamadou Sylla told Guinean private radio FIM FM reporters.

Meanwhile, less than 24 hours after President Adama Barrow arrived in Conakry, one of Alpha Condé’s fiercest opponent Boubacar Diallo, nicknamed Grenada, was sentenced to ten years in prison on Friday. The young Guinean opponent is accused of having used a firearm during the demonstrations of May 2016. The activist and supporter of the opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo was prosecuted for “attempted assassination, illegal carrying of weapons of war and ammunition. “

Before Barrow arrived in Conakry, the President of the Association of Bloggers in Guinea, Mamadou Alpha Diallo, was arrested Wednesday in Sinfonia (in the suburbs of Conakry) for “contempt of police officer.” Mr. Diallo has been indicted and tried on Tuesday, June 08th, 2021, at the Conakry court.

The two misfortunes of these Guinean opposition activists have no connection with Adama Barrow’s trip to Conakry. Still, they are enough evidence of President of Alpha Condé’s experience in handling his perceived political opponents even after forcing his way to a third presidential term.