Guinea: Doumbouya supporters express joy after victory in presidential election

In Conakry, supporters of junta leader Mamadi Doumbouya expressed their joy after he was declared the winner of Guinea’s latest presidential election.

The poll held on 28 December was the country’s first election since a 2021 coup.

“My feelings are that I am happy. I know that Doumbouya won. He is our president. And the victory belongs to him," said Conakry resident Zahra Cherif.

Doumbouya won 86.72% of the votes counted so far, according to incomplete results from the General Directorate of Elections.

“He did not win simply because he is loved by the people, but because he works,” said Ibrahima Doumbouya, who belongs to the president-elect's political movement. “He is doing a good job and today, all Guineans are satisfied with this man's work.”

Lesser-known Yéro Baldé, a former education minister in Alpha Condé’s government, came a distant second with 6.51% of the votes.

The directorate said that 80.95% of the registered 6.7 million voters had voted in the election.

Baldé disputes these results and made this known during a press briefing on Wednesday.

“Where citizens can vote freely, without pressure or intimidation, where the vote count reports were drawn up normally, the popular verdict was clear: the people put us in the lead. We will use all legal means to demand that the truth be restored,” said Baldé, the candidate of the Democratic Front of Guinea.

Ahead of the vote on Sunday, analysts had predicted that a weakened opposition would result in Doumbouya’s win.

The election was widely seen as a means to legitimise his stay in power.It was also the culmination of a transition process that began four years ago after Doumbouya ousted President Alpha Condé.