Lansana Conté

Lansana Conté, a member of the Susu ethnic group, was born in Moussayah Loumbaya (Dubréka) around 1934, though he never knew his exact birthdate. After attending a local Quranic school and primary school, he studied at military preparatory schools in Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal. He enlisted in the French Army in 1955 and served in Algeria during its war of independence. Following Guinea’s independence in 1958, he joined the new army as a sergeant. Over the following years, he attended officers’ school in Conakry and was promoted through the ranks, becoming a captain in 1971 after repelling an invasion from Portuguese Guinea. He later commanded the Boké operational zone to support independence fighters in Portuguese Guinea and was named assistant Chief of Staff of the army in 1975. In 1977, he led a delegation resolving a border dispute with Guinea-Bissau and was elected to the National Assembly in 1980. After President Ahmed Sékou Touré died in March 1984, Conté led a military coup on 3 April, hours before the ruling party was to choose a successor. He denounced Touré’s human rights abuses, released 250 political prisoners, encouraged the return of about 200,000 exiles, and closed the Camp Boiro detention centre. He suspended the constitution and the National Assembly, banned political activity, and established a 25-member Military Committee of National Restoration, proclaiming himself president on 5 April. A counter-coup in July 1985 was thwarted, and Conté used the opportunity to eliminate rival soldiers from the Malinké ethnic group. He was promoted to army general in 1990. Conté advocated for planned liberalism and later supported free-market reforms, including currency devaluation and reduced government spending, which pleased the International Monetary Fund. He initiated a transition to multiparty rule, approving a new constitution in 1990 and legalizing political parties in 1992. He won the first multiparty presidential election in 1993 with 51.7% of the vote, though the opposition alleged fraud. His regime remained authoritarian but milder than Touré’s. He survived a 1996 coup attempt stemming from an army mutiny, and won re-election in 1998 with 56.1% of the vote. A 2001 referendum lifted term limits and extended the presidential term to seven years, a result rejected by the opposition. Conté remained in power until his death in 2008.