Monrovia – Around 3:15pm on the afternoon of January 21st 2022, barely six months after Col Mamady Doumbouya and his junta unseated President Alpha Condé from power in Guinea, signs of trouble ricochet near Guinea’s border with Liberia, when Liberian authorities received reports from the fragile border near the town of Sefudu in the Quardu Gboni district, that the Guinean Border Patrol team while patrolling along the border, went to the town of Sefudu Port of Entry, took down the Liberian flag, broke the flag pole and took it away.
By Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
According to high-level briefing notes, videos, and photographs in possession of FrontPageAfrica, a day after the incident, Col. Mohammed Condé the Battalion Commander of the southern Guinean town of Macenta, traveled to the Sefudu border along with nine officers of the Guinean army to apologize to the Liberian Joint Security for an act committed which marked an infringement within the walls of Liberia.
The act, explained by top security personnel, included the taking down of Liberia’s national flag from the border on the southern edge of Macenta, close to the Liberian border with Guinea.
Authorities say the incident is just one of a few times that the Guinea army troops along the border have attempted to take control of bordering areas along the border with Liberia.
Col. Condé explained that he had received a mandate from the Chief of staff of the Guinean Military that all battalion commanders should patrol their surrounding which he was carrying on when he arrived at Nyawalazu town and was encouraged by the general Town Chief of the area to show him the actual boundary between Guinea and Liberia; even though he was not mandated to cross and enter into Liberia.
During that encounter, Col. Condé, accompanied by Mr. Tarnue Barley, General Town Chief of Nyawalazu, Mr. Masaboi Kordor and Madam Sebah Sabah. Col. Condé said while on the way, he saw a gate, an office structure and a flagpole standing with the Liberia flag on it.
As they continued their journey approximately forty 40 feet where the boundary with Liberia was shown to him, he now saw a broken pole with the flag lying flat on the ground. As a trained Military personnel, he narrated, according to briefing notes, “whether a flag represents your country or not, once it is lying on the ground, it should be taken and kept.”
Col. Condé was then asked by the Liberian border patrol, why he did not just place the flag in the structure he saw, but rather took it to his country, Guinea.
According to the briefing notes in FPA’s possession, the Guinean army leader could not justify but rather said. ‘That it was an oversight.’
In his apologist statement, Col. Condé is quoted as saying that he was deceived by the Town Chief, other citizens as well as the military commander assigned at the Nyawalazu border, who said he was unaware that the land the Liberia flag was posted, and situated in was owned by Guinea.
Guinea Bullying Neighbors?
Col. Condé went on to mention that he saw the Custom officer but forgot to give the flag to him, before expressing deep regrets for the action of his troops against the Liberian Government. Col. Condé promised that such a thing will never be repeated.
Officers at the border reported at the time that the Guineans went as far as removing the label on the building and attempted to erase any sign of Liberia on the walls at the border. Furthermore, the gate representing the Liberian border was broken by the Guineans.
The 2022 incident came a little over a decade after Guinea engaged in a similar border tussle with another next-door neighbor, Sierra Leone. In August 2012, Sierra Leone and Guinea came to near blows over the border town of Yenga. In 2005, Sierra Leone and Guinea had signed an agreement confirming Yenga – a tiny town on the banks of the Makona River – belonged to Sierra Leone. However, Guinean troops remained in the town. Although the two countries eventually pledged to resolve the dispute over control of Yenga town through dialogue, many Sierra Leoneans at the time expressed dismay and accused Guinea of bullying. Guinean troops had entered the town more than a decade ago to help the Sierra Leonean army fight rebels but refused to hand the town back to the Sierra Leonean government after defeating the uprising. At the time, it was believed the Guineans were afraid that the town could be used as an entry point for uprising, thus their defiance over the matter. In the end, both sides agreed to work out the modalities on a buffer zone.
In recent weeks, the Guinean head of state Doumbouya and his junta have been expressing fears that former President Alpha Condé has been trying to topple the junta rulership. Just last week, the Liberian government succumbed to pressure from Guinea and turned over a Guinean national Ibrahim Khalis Cherif, Guinea says has been in Liberia recruiting former rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Development(Lurd).
While the fate of Cherif remains unknown, the Junta in Guinea is coming under immense pressure from opposition groups, civil society organizations and activists known as the Forces Vives to urge the junta to establish civilian rule by Jan. 1. 2025.
In January 2022, Col. Mohammed Conde, the Battalion Commander of Macenta, Republic of Guinea arrived at the Sefudu border with nine Guinean officers to apologize to the Joint Security in Liberia for an act which triggered concerns about Guinea’s attempt to post its flag on Liberian territory. Conde, according to briefing notes obtained by FrontPageAfrica, explained that he had received a mandate from the Chief of staff of the Guinean Military that all battalion commanders should patrol their surrounding which he was carrying on when he arrived at Nyawalazu town and was encouraged by the general Town Chief of that area to show him the actual boundary between Guinea and Liberia; even though he was not mandated to cross and enter into Liberia. The incident raises even more questions in wake of the recent controversy surrounding the extradition of Ibrahima Khalil Cherif, a Guinean national accused of recruiting for Lurd Rebels to overthrow the junta in Guinea. This comes as the Guinean opposition are mounting pressure for junta leader Col. Mamady Doumbouya to return the country to civilian rule.
The junta seized power in a 2021 coup and proposed a two-year transition to elections from 2022 after negotiating with the Economic Community of West African States regional bloc, but it has shown little sign of moving to organize a vote, stoking public frustration.
Guinea has in recent months seen sporadic protests against the authorities and military leader Mamady Doumbouya since the junta took office, some leading to deadly clashes with security forces.
Guinea Undermining Democracy, Neighbors on Edge
In July, Guinea’s transitional authorities presented the draft of a new constitution which would potentially allow Doumbouya to participate in the next presidential election. No date has yet been set for a promised referendum on the constitution, which they said would be a precursor to any election.
Doumbouya has been criticized for dissolving the opposition National Front for the Defense of the Constitution, a prominent coalition of Guinean civil society groups and opposition parties, on politically motivated grounds. In August, the watchdog group, Human Rights Watch said the move by the country’s territorial administration and decentralization minister seriously damages the country’s return to genuine democratic rule. “The coalition was given no opportunity to effectively challenge the decision, which was based on vague and sweeping allegations, before an independent judicial body with the authority to quash the order,” HRW noted. “The Guinean transitional government already tightly controls political space,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “This move against the FNDC will only further undermine democracy by discouraging any meaningful opposition.”
The order accuses the coalition of organizing public armed demonstrations, using violence, inciting hate, and acting like “private militias.” This decision came hours after the coalition had announced new demonstrations across Guinea and abroad calling for a credible dialogue between transitional military authorities and opposition parties and civil society.
Paranoia and Jitters in the military junta in Guinea is putting neighbors like Liberia on edge.
Tension has been high since the extradition of the Guinean national Cherif by the Liberian government. Six armed commandos arrived in Liberia on November 3, 2024, to take Cherif back to Guinea. On Monday morning, AFL Troops were seen arriving in Voinjama, Lofa County as both countries mount their presence to cement the area. This comes just days after the Liberian government turned over Ibrahima Khalis Cherif, Guinea says has been the point man recruiting former Lurd rebels in Liberia.
Liberia is bound to the north by Guinea, one of its neighboring countries with which it shares its land border. The international border delimiting the two West African countries is 350 miles in length. The border starts at the tripoint connecting the two countries to Sierra Leone from where it extends eastwards until it meets the Liberia-Ivory Coast-Guinea tripoint.
Defense Ministry sources, speaking on condition of anonymity after viewing photographs of AFL soldiers in Voinjama, said, “the Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Liberia have been deployed to Voinjama to beef up their forces in readiness for joint patrols with their Guinean counterparts along the stretch of the Guinean Liberian border areas of Lofa County. This follows a decision of the Liberian National Security Council in fulfillment of decisions reached after a national security meeting last week. “We are trying to upgrade our strength in Voinjama, to a company size as well as increase presence in Foya, Zorzor and Quardo Gboni,” said the senior official who is not authorized to speak on the matter publicly.
The official added: “Based on what has been coming. We don’t want anyone to use our borders for anything funny. We are trying to deter that thought from the minds of anyone trying anything sinister.
Fortifying Borders
The increase in troops on both sides of the border comes just days after the Liberian government took a controversial move to extradite Ibrahima Khalil Cherif, a Guinean national accused of recruiting for Lurd Rebels to overthrow the junta in Guinea. The condition of Cherif since he was turned over to the Guinea Junta remains unclear.
FrontPageAfrica has learned that both the AFL and the Ministry of Defense are awaiting approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before moving closer to the Guinean border. “It’s true that our soldiers are in Voinjama, but we have not yet advanced to the border. “The troops landed in Voinjama, and the people welcomed them. The intent is to get to the border, but we are waiting for further instructions. The Guineans have already been informed but we are awaiting to hear from them through the foreign ministry. By the time we hear from them we will make our move to cement our border with Guinea.”
With so much history involving military rulers and coups in the troubled West African subregion, diplomatic observers are unsure what to make of Doubouya and his government’s claims of massive recruitment of former Lurd rebels in Liberia. More importantly, the threat of militarism creeping its way back in the subregion is a potential for trouble. Liberia and Sierra Leone have both enjoyed successive democratic transitions in recent years, after both countries endured civil wars. However, the refusal of the junta in Guinea to return to the country to civil rule could spell trouble that could overlap in both Liberia and Sierra Leone.
As hope and optimism for Guinea fades, it is unclear how the Mano River Union countries will manage the sense of paranoia and fear coming out of Guinea and a junta government’s apparent unwillingness to commit to its promise to return the French colony to civilian rule.
